Thermal loading in multi-layered and/or functionally graded materials: Residual stress field, delamination, fatigue and related size effects

The stress field and fracture propagation due to thermal loading in multi-layered and/or functionally graded composite materials are extensively analysed. Regarding fracture, we have focused the attention on delamination between the layers due to brittle or fatigue thermally induced crack propagations. The statically indeterminate stress analysis is solved coupling equilibrium, compatibility and constitutive equations. Fracture analysis is based on the classical Griffith’s criterion rewritten for composite structures under thermal loading. As an example, a two-layer prismatic structure is considered, each layer being composed by a different functionally graded material. The solution is particularized for the case of a linear grading. The size and shape effects are discussed and an optimization procedure is proposed. A numerical application of the findings to hard metal and diamond based cutters concludes the paper.