Nonlinear response and buckling analysis of eccentrically stiffened FGM toroidal shell segments in thermal environment

This paper presents an analytical approach to study nonlinear response and buckling analysis of FGM toroidal shell segments reinforced by FGM stiffeners surrounded by elastic foundations in thermal environment and under external pressure. The formulations are based on Reddy's third-order shear deformation shell theory (TSDT) with von Karman nonlinearity, Pasternak type elastic foundations and smeared stiffener technique. By applying Galerkin's method and using stress function, closed-form expressions for determining the static critical external pressure load and postbuckling load-deflection curves are determined. Finally, the influences of geometrical parameters, volume fraction index, elastic foundations, and the effectiveness of stiffeners on the stability of shells are considered.