Thermal post-buckling behavior of imperfect graphene platelets reinforced metal foams plates resting on nonlinear elastic foundations

In this paper, the thermal post-buckling behavior of graphene platelets reinforced metal foams (GPLRMFs) plate with initial geometric imperfections on nonlinear elastic foundations are studied. First, the governing equation is derived based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) of plate. To obtain a single equation that only contains deflection, the Galerkin principle is employed to solve the governing equation. Subsequently, a comparative analysis was conducted with existing literature, thereby verifying the correctness and reliability of this paper. Finally, considering three GPLs distribution types (GPL-A, GPL-B, and GPL-C) of plates, the effects of initial geometric imperfections, foam distribution types, foam coefficients, GPLs weight fraction, temperature changes, and elastic foundation stiffness on the thermal post-buckling characteristics of the plates were investigated. The results show that the GPL-A distribution pattern exhibits the best buckling resistance. And with the foam coefficient (GPLs weight fraction, elastic foundation stiffness) increases, the deflection change of the plate under thermal load becomes smaller. On the contrary, when the initial geometric imperfection (temperature change) increases, the thermal buckling deflection increases. According to the current research situation, the results of this article can play an important role in the thermal stability analysis of GPLRMFs plates.