Buckling analysis of functionally graded plates partially resting on elastic foundation using the differential quadrature element method

We extend the differential quadrature element method (DQEM) to the buckling analysis of uniformly in-plane loaded functionally graded (FG) plates fully or partially resting on the Pasternak model of elastic support. Material properties of the FG plate are graded in the thickness direction and assumed to obey a power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. To set up the global eigenvalue equation, the plate is divided into sub-domains or elements and the generalized differential quadrature procedure is applied to discretize the governing, boundary and compatibility equations. By assembling discrete equations at all nodal points, the weighting coefficient and force matrices are derived. To validate the accuracy of this method, the results are compared with those of the exact solution and the finite element method. At the end, the effects of different variables and local elastic support arrangements on the buckling load factor are investigated.