Thermal effect on radially symmetric vibrations of temperature-dependent FGM circular plates with nonlinear thickness variation

Thermo-elastic analysis for the free axisymmetric vibration of functionally graded circular plates with quadratic thickness variation along radial direction has been presented on the basis of classical theory of plates. Following a power law model, the plate is assumed to be graded in thickness direction and mechanical properties of the material are temperature-dependent. The plate is subjected to a non-linear temperature distribution in thickness direction while the thermal environment over the top and bottom surfaces is uniform. The equations for thermo-elastic equilibrium and axisymmetric motion for such a plate model have been derived using Hamilton's principle. Employing differential quadrature method, the numerical values of thermal displacements and frequencies for clamped and simply supported plates have been computed. The influence of thickness parameters, material graded index and temperature difference on the vibration characteristics for the first three modes of vibration has been analyzed. The benchmark results for uniform and linear temperature distributions have been computed. A study with the plate material having temperature-independent mechanical properties has also been performed. Because, functionally graded materials inherently withstand high temperature gradients due to low thermal conductivity, core ductility, low thermal expansion coefficient, etc, the performance of results can help for optimal designing of non-uniform circular plates by controlling one or both the taper parameters. In special cases, the results have been compared with those obtained by other methods. (paper)