Yaping Zhang1, Qifeng Fan2, Leiting Dong2,3, Satya N. Atluri4
CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.112, No.1, pp. 1-32, 2016, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2016.112.001
Abstract Similar to the very vast prior literature on analyzing laminated composite structures, "higher-order" and "layer-wise higher-order" plate and shell theories for functionally-graded (FG) materials and structures are also widely popularized in the literature of the past two decades. However, such higher-order theories involve (1) postulating very complex assumptions for plate/shell kinematics in the thickness direction, (2) defining generalized variables of displacements, strains, and stresses, and (3) developing very complex governing equilibrium, compatibility, and constitutive equations in terms of newly-defined generalized kinematic and generalized kinetic variables. Their industrial applications are thus hindered by their inherent complexity,… More >