Axisymmetric bending of two-directional functionally graded circular and annular plates

ABSTRACTAssuming the material properties varying with an exponential law both in the thickness and radial directions, axisymmetric bending of two-directional functionally graded circular and annular plates is studied using the semi-analytical numerical method in this paper. The deflections and stresses of the plates are presented. Numerical results show the well accuracy and convergence of the method. Compared with the finite element method, the semi-analytical numerical method is with great advantage in the computational efficiency. Moreover, study on axisymmetric bending of two-directional functionally graded annular plate shows that such plates have better performance than those made of isotropic homogeneous materials or one-directional functionally graded materials. Two-directional functionally graded material is a potential alternative to the one-directional functionally graded material. And the integrated design of materials and structures can really be achieved in two-directional functionally graded materials.