Thermo-mechanical post-buckling behavior of thick functionally graded plates resting on elastic foundations

Postbuckling of thick plates made of functionally graded material (FGM) subjected to in-plane compressive, thermal and thermomechanical loads is investigated in this work. It is assumed that the plate is in contact with a Pasternak-type elastic foundation during deformation. Thermomechanical nonhomogeneous properties are considered to be temperature independent, and graded smoothly by the distribution of power law across the thickness in the thickness in terms of the volume fractions of constituents. By employing the higher order shear deformation plate theory together the non-linear von- Karman strain-displacement relations, the equilibrium and compatibility equations of imperfect FGM plates are derived. The Galerkin technique is used to determine the buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths for simply supported plates. Numerical examples are presented to show the influences of power law index, foundation stiffness and imperfection on the buckling and postbuckling loading capacity of the plates.