Three-dimensional thermo-elastic analysis of multi-directional functionally graded rectangular plates on elastic foundation

A thermo-elastic analysis of a multi-directional functionally graded thick rectangular plate with different boundary conditions is carried out in this study. Some material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in all three spatial directions following a power law function. The differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to obtain the temperature distribution throughout the 3D-FGM plate. The governing partial differential equations based on the three-dimensional thermo-elasticity theory are obtained, and the DQM is employed to discretize the resulting equations. Comparisons are made with the available results of 1D-FGM and 2D-FGM plates in the literature and an Abaqus model. Numerical results are obtained for different gradient indices, plate dimensions, and various thermal and mechanical boundary conditions.