Buckling Analysis of Functionally Graded Material Plate Using Third-Order Shear Deformation Theory

This paper investigates the thermo-mechanical buckling behaviour of simply supported functionally graded material (FGM) plate under the framework of higher order shear deformation theory, which includes classical plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) as special cases. The efficiency and applicability of presented methodology are illustrated by considering various examples of thermal and mechanical buckling of FGM plates. The closed-form solutions in the form of critical thermal and mechanical buckling loads, predicted by CPT, FSDT and TSDT, are compared for different side to thickness of FGM plate. The effects of geometrical parameters on mechanical buckling of FGM plate, under uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions, are also illustrated by calculating the critical load for various values of aspect ratios. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of critical thermal buckling loads of FGM plate for different temperature profiles is also presented.