Nonlinear buckling of higher deformable S-FGM thick circular cylindrical shells with metal–ceramic–metal layers surrounded on elastic foundations in thermal environment

An analytical approach on the nonlinear response of thick functionally graded circular cylindrical shells with temperature independent material property surrounded on elastic foundations subjected to mechanical and thermal loads is presented. Material properties are graded in the thickness direction according to a Sigmoid power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of constituents (S-FGM). The formulations are based on the third order shear deformation shell theory taking into account von Karman nonlinearity, initial geometrical imperfection and Pasternak type elastic foundation. By applying Galerkin method and using stress function, explicit relations of thermal load–deflection curves of the S-FGM shells are determined. Detailed parametric studies are carried out to investigate effects of volume fraction index, material properties and geometrical shapes, axial compressions and thermal load, foundation stiffness and imperfection on nonlinear buckling behaviors of S-FGM thick circular cylindrical shells. The present analysis is validated by comparing results with other publications.