Analytical investigation of bending response of FGM plate using a new quasi 3D shear deformation theory: Effect of the micromechanical models

In this paper, a new refined quasi-three-dimensional (3D) shear deformation theory for the bending analysis of functionally graded plate is presented. The number of unknown functions involved in this theory is only four against five or more in the case of the other shear and normal deformation theories. Due to its quasi-3D nature, the stretching effect is taken into account in the formulation of governing equations. In addition, the effect of different micromechanical models on the bending response of these plates is studied. Various micromechanical models are used to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of the FG plates whose properties vary continuously across the thickness according to a simple power law. The present theory accounts for both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects by a parabolic variation of displacements across the thickness, and the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factors. The problem is solved for a plate simply supported on its edges and the Navier solution is used. The results of the present method are compared with others from the literature where a good agreement has been found. A detailed parametric study is presented to show the effect of different micromechanical models on the flexural response of a simply supported FG plates.