Thermoelastic analysis of rectangular plates with variable thickness made of FGM based on TSDT using DQ method

This paper presents a thermoelastic analysis of variable thickness plates made of functionally graded materials (FGM) subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. The thermal load is applied to the plate as a temperature difference between the top and bottom surfaces. Temperature distribution in the plate is obtained using the steady-state heat equation. Except for Poisson's ratio, all mechanical properties of the plate are assumed to vary linearly along the thickness direction based on the volume fractions of ceramic and metal. The plate is resting on an elastic foundation modeled based on the Winkler foundation model. The governing equations are derived based on the third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) and are solved numerically for various boundary conditions using the differential quadrature method (DQM). The effects of various parameters on the stress distribution and deflection of the plate are investigated such as the value of thermal and mechanical loads, volume fractions of ceramic and metal, and the stiffness coefficients of the foundation.