Dynamic Instability of Functionally Graded Shells Using Higher-Order Theory

Abstract

This paper reports the dynamic instability behavior of functionally graded (FG) shells subjected to in-plane periodic load and temperature field using a higher-order shear deformation theory in conjunction with the finite-element approach. Properties of FG materials are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the thickness direction according to the power-law distribution in terms of volume fraction of the constituents. Five forms of shells considered in this investigation are singly curved cylindrical, doubly curved spherical, and hyperbolic paraboloid having two principal curvatures, doubly curved hypar having twist curvature only, and doubly curved conoid having one curvature and twist curvature. The boundaries of dynamic instability regions are obtained using Bolotin’s approach. The structural system is considered to be undamped. The correctness of the formulation is established by comparing the writers’ results with those of problems available in the published literature. Effects of material composition and geometrical parameters are studied on the dynamic instability characteristics of the aforementioned five forms of shells having practical applications in many engineering disciplines.