Exact solution for thermo-elastic response of functionally graded rectangular plates

Three-dimensional thermo-elastic analysis of functionally graded (FG) rectangular plates with simply supported edges subjected to thermo-mechanical loads are carried out in this paper. The thermo-elastic constants of the plate were assumed to vary exponentially through the thickness, and the Poisson ratio was held constant. Analytical solutions for the temperature, stress and displacement fields are derived by using the Fourier series and state-space method. To verify the accuracy of the present work, a comparison is made with previously published results. The effects of temperature change, applied mechanical load, gradient index, aspect ratio and thickness to length ratio on the behavior of the plate are examined.