Large deformation bending analysis of functionally graded spherical shell using FEM

In this article, nonlinear finite element solutions of bending responses of functionally graded spherical panels are presented. The material properties of functionally graded material are graded in thickness direction according to a power-law distribution of volume fractions. A general nonlinear mathematical shallow shell model has been developed based on higher order shear deformation theory by taking the geometric nonlinearity in Green-Lagrange sense. The model is discretised using finite element steps and the governing equations are obtained through variational principle. The nonlinear responses are evaluated through a direct iterative method. The model is validated by comparing the responses with the available published literatures. The efficacy of present model has also been established by demonstrating a simulation based nonlinear model developed in ANSYS environment. The effects of power-law indices, support conditions and different geometrical parameters on bending behaviour of functionally graded shells are obtained and discussed in detail.