Crack tip fields in functionally graded materials with temperature-dependent properties

The crack tip heat flux and stress fields in functionally graded materials (FGMs) with temperature dependent properties was investigated. FGMs are promising candidates for future high temperature applications and the microstructure of an FGM is gradually varied in a predetermined way resulting in continuously graded microscopic properties. The temperature dependence of material properties should be considered in the thermal stress and fracture analyses of FGMs. The basic equations governing the temperature and the Airy stress function for thermoelastic FGMs with temperature-dependent properties undergoes plane strain deformations. It can be shown that the governing equation of temperature field, by using the the asymptotic expansion method, reduces to the harmonic equation. A finer mesh and appropriate schemes for material property computation may be required to accurately evaluate the second order derivatives of thermal conductivity and young's modulus.