Thermal post-buckling of laminated plates comprising functionally graded materials with temperature-dependent properties

This paper presents thermal buckling and post-buckling analyses,for moderately, thick laminated rectangular plates that contain functionally, graded materials (FGMs) and subjected to a uniform temperature change. The theoretical formulation employs the first order shear deformation theory and accounts for the effect of temperature-dependent thermoelastic properties of the constituent materials and initial geometric imperfection. The principle of minimum total potential energy, the differential quadrature method, and iterative algorithms are used to obtain critical buckling temperatures and the postbuckling temperature-deflection curves. The results are presented for both synnnetrically, and unsymmetrically laminated plates with ceramic/metal functionally, graded layers, showing the effects of temperature-dependent properties, layup scheme, material composition, initial imperfection, geometric parameters, and boundary conditions on buckling temperature and thermal post-buckling behavior.