Thermal buckling analysis of functionally graded perforated annular sector plates using 3D elasticity theory

Thermal buckling of annular sector plates with circular cutouts made of functionally graded material is analyzed in this article. Graded material is considered with two parts of ceramic structure made of zirconia and metal structure which is aluminum. Unlike most conducted research, the direction of property change is observed in three main directions. Thermal loading is assumed as a uniform increase in temperature influencing the whole sector. 3D-finite element method based on elasticity theory is used in this analysis, which resets first and second variations of potential energy of the sector to zero to find equilibrium and stability equations, respectively. Green's nonlinear strain-displacement relations are used to obtain geometrical stiffness matrix. In the finite element method, unlike most studies, a 3D eight-nodded element is used, which has nodes in the direction of thickness. The circular cutouts of the sector have added to the complexity of the analysis. The finite element formulation is coded in MATLAB. Finally, the effect of different parameters such as dimension and number of cutouts, power law index, and orientation of graded material on the critical thermal buckling temperature is studied.