Three-dimensional thermo-mechanical analysis of layered elastic/plastic solids

At high temperature a layered solid undergoes intense thermal loading that affects its mechanical performance. To study the thermo-mechanical behavior of a layered elastic/plastic solid, a three-dimensional numerical model based on the boundary element method (BEM) is developed. The thermal distortions and stresses are calculated with an arbitrary temperature field. The effect of temperature elevation on various failure mechanisms of the layered solid, such as plastic yielding, surface cracking, and layer/substrate delamination, are investigated. This BEM-based thermo-mechanical analysis is suitable for solids with large surface to volume ratio, such as shells and disks. An analysis is performed on magneto-optical media as a specific example. The result allows the specification of the thermo-mechanical properties of the media to alter the distributions of stresses and displacements without changing the temperature distribution. An optimal media design based on the simulation results is predicted.