Strain based finite element for the analysis of heterogeneous hollow cylinders subjected to thermo-mechanical loading

The effectiveness and accuracy of the strain-based approach applied for analysis of two kinds of heterogeneous hollow cylinders subjected to thermal and mechanical loads are examined in this study. One is a multilayer cylinder in which the material in each layer is assumed to be linearly elastic, homogeneous and isotropic. Another is a hollow cylinder made of functionally graded materials with arbitrary gradient. The steady state condition without heat generation is considered. A sector in-plane finite element in the polar coordinate system based on strain approach is used. This element has only three degrees of freedom at each corner node. Analytical solutions available in the literature are presented to illustrate the accuracy of the sector element used. The obtained results for displacements and stresses are shown to be in good agreement with the analytical solutions.