Thermomechanical deformation of a functionally graded composite (FGC) in elevated
temperature environments is investigated by the meshless local Petrov–Galerkin
method. The FGC is modeled as a 2-D linearly elastic solid which consists of ceramic
ZrO
and alloy Ti-6Al-4V with the volume fraction varying along a predefined direction.
Unlike most investigations performed so far, temperature-dependent thermophysical
and thermomechanical properties are considered for both constituents in this work.
The effective material properties of the FGC are evaluated with the micromechanical
models. An FGC hollow cylinder under an internal temperature change is first
studied; the numerical results agree very well with those computed by the finite
element method. The parametric studies with respect to different profiles
of graded FGCs are performed for a clamped-clamped thick beam and a
square plate with a central hole, respectively. It is found that inclusion of
temperature dependence for the material properties has a great impact on
thermomechanical response prediction for FGCs in elevated temperature
environments.
Keywords
functionally graded composites, thermomechanics,
temperature-dependent material properties, micromechanical
model, meshless local Petrov–Galerkin method
Milestones
Received: 9 September 2006
Accepted: 29 November 2006
Published: 1 June 2007
Authors
H. K. Ching
Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65201
United States
