Postbuckling analysis of functionally graded plates on an elastic foundation

First, we discuss characteristics of functionally graded materials and describe methods of their manufacturing. Then, we provide an overview of analytical and numerical methods for calculating plates, with characteristics of functionally graded materials, resting on elastic foundation. The presented numerical results have been obtained by the finite elements method, referring to post-bifurcation problems of thermally loaded plates. The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) has been employed. In numerical calculations we have used a new 16-node plate element, free of problems related to shear locking.