Thermal buckling analysis of functionally graded sandwich cylindrical shells

Thermal buckling of functionally graded sandwich cylindrical shells is presented in this study. Material properties and thermal expansion coefficient of FGM layers are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness according to a sigmoid function and simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Equilibrium and stability equations of FGM sandwich cylindrical shells with simply supported boundary conditions are derived according to the Donnell theory. The influences of cylindrical shell geometry and the gradient index on the critical buckling temperature of several kinds of FGM sandwich cylindrical shells are investigated. The thermal loads are assumed to be uniform, linear and nonlinear distribution across the thickness direction. An exact simple form of nonlinear temperature rise through its thickness taking into account the thermal conductivity and the inhomogeneity parameter is presented.