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Environmental responses to deep excavations are combined results of numerous factors. The effects of some factors are relatively straightforward and can be considered carefully during the design. On the other hand, more features impact excavation-induced performances indirectly, making their influences difficult to be clearly understood. Unfortunately, the complexity and non-repeatability of practical projects make it impossible to thoroughly understand these issues through realistic deep excavation projects. Therefore, parametric studies based on repeatable laboratory and numerical tests are desired to investigate these issues further. This work examines the influence of several key features on excavation-induced displacements through a series of 3D numerical tests. The study includes the choice of soil constitutive models, the modeling method of the soil–wall interface, and the influences of various key soil parameters. The comparison shows that the MCC model can yield a displacement field similar to the HSS model, while its soil movement is greatly improved compared to the MC model. Both the soil–wall interface properties and soil parameters impact the excavation-induced displacement to a large extent. In addition, the influence mechanisms of these parameters are analyzed, and practical suggestions are given. The findings of this paper are expected to provide practical references to the design and construction of future deep excavation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the three-dimensional elasticity theory, the free vibration of functionally graded porous (FGP) sandwich rectangular plates is studied, and a unified solution for free vibration of the plates is proposed in this study. The arbitrary boundary conditions of FGP sandwich rectangular plates are simulated by using the Rayleigh–Ritz method combined with artificial spring theory. The calculation performances of the unified solution for FGP sandwich rectangular plates such as convergence speed and computational efficiency are compared extensively under different displacement functions. In addition, three kinds of elastic foundation (Winkler/Pasternak/Kerr foundations) and three porosity distributions are considered. Some benchmark results and accurate values for the free vibration of FGP sandwich rectangular plates resting on elastic foundations are given. Finally, the effects of diverse structural parameters, elastic foundations with different parameters, and boundary conditions on the free vibration of the FGP sandwich rectangular plates are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep excavations clearly impact adjacent existing properties and threaten their operational safety. Predicting the deformation of existing infrastructure induced by nearby underground construction is the main concern of urban underground development. This paper presents an analytical calculation method for predicting underground pipe gallery deformations induced by adjacent deep excavations. First, the authors assume the existing pipe gallery to be nonexistent in the soil and propose a solution to calculate the excavation-induced vertical movements of the soil at the position of the existing pipe gallery. Thereafter, the authors simplify the existing pipe gallery as an elastic beam on a Winkler foundation to calculate its deformation. Finally, the method is verified by the good agreement found between the calculated result and the field measurement of the construction of the Shanghai Hongqiao CBD project. The proposed analytical method of this work can provide accurate evaluation results for similar engineering projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large deflection nonlinear bending of functionally graded (FG) porous cylindrical panels reinforced with graphene platelets (GPLs) on a Pasternak-type elastic foundation is examined by developing a reliable and effective 2D meshfree-based nonlinear numerical method. The large displacement field is express by the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and the von Kármán nonlinearity, and approximated by 2D natural element method (NEM) in conjunction with the stabilized MITC3+ shell concept and the shell surface–rectangular grid geometry transformation. The nonlinear simultaneous equations are solved by a load incremental Newton–Raphson scheme. The developed nonlinear numerical method is justified from by comparing with the reference solutions, and the load–deflection and bending moment of FG-GPLRC porous cylindrical panels on elastic foundation are scrutinizingly examined. Four different symmetric GPL distribution patters (except for FG-Λ) and three different symmetric porosity distributions are considered and their combined effects on the nonlinear bending behavior are investigated, as well as the effects of foundation stiffness and GPL amount. Also, the results are compared with those of FG CNT-reinforced porous cylindrical panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free vibrations of porous functionally graded material (FGM) plates with complex shapes are analyzed by using the R-functions method. The thickness of the plate is variable in the direction of one of the axes. Two types of porosity distributions through the thickness are considered: uniform (even) and non-uniform (uneven). The elastic foundation is defined by two parameters (Winkler and Pasternak). To obtain the mathematical model of the problem, the first-order shear deformation theory of the plate (FSDT) is used. The effective material properties in the thickness direction are modeled by means of a power law. Variational Ritz's method joined with the R-functions theory is used for obtaining a semi-analytical solution of the problem. The approach is applied to a number of case studies and validated by means of comparative analyses carried out on rectangular plates with a traditional finite element approach. The proof of the efficiency of the approach and its capability to handle actual engineering problems is fulfilled for FGM plates having complex shapes and various boundary conditions. The effect of different parameters, such as porosity distribution, volume fraction index, elastic foundation, FGM types, and boundary conditions, on the vibrations is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The settlement of track in a railroad underpass project was studied by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, based on the model of winkle beam on elastic foundation. Taking the settlement of roadbed as a nonlinear boundary condition, the control differential equation of the track large deformation settlement was established and solved by the Fourier series method; the numerical solution was obtained by establishing a numerical model based on an actual project and compared and analyzed with the series solution and cosine function solution. The correlation coefficients of the track settlement curves obtained from the series solution and the numerical solution were higher than those of the cosine function solution while the numerical solution with the maximum track settlement difference was only 0.8% of the maximum settlement of the track numerical solution. The accuracy of the series solution method is higher in this paper, and the track settlement curve obtained from theoretical calculation reflects and predicts the track settlement well when the track settlement cannot be measured directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the deformation and strain-stress analysis of the Earth's crust under external thermal loading. More specifically, the influence of cyclic changes in the surface temperature field on the stress and displacement inside the crust over a two-year time span is investigated. The finite element program MSC.Marc Mentat was used to calculate the stresses and displacements. For practical analysis reasons, the Earth's crust is simplified as a planar, piecewise homogeneous, isotropic model (plane strain), and time-varying temperature functions of illumination (thermal radiation) from the Sun are considered in the local isotropy sections of the model. Interaction between the Earth's crust and mantle is defined by the Winkler elastic foundation. By applying a probabilistic approach (Monte Carlo Method), a new stochastic model of displacements and stresses and new information on crustal displacements relative to the Earth's mantle were obtained. The results proved the heating influence of the Sun on the Earth's crust and plate tectonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the problem of loose materials, i.e., wheat grain, when transported by belt conveyors with cover belts. For the purpose of further research, experimental measurements of the deflections of a conveyor belt with loose material were carried out on a self-built laboratory test device. The mechanical contact between the wheat and the belt could be suitably approximated using an elastic foundation. The measured data were evaluated and used to obtain functional relationships for the compressibility moduli of the bilateral Winkler elastic foundation. The obtained relationships were further stochastically processed using the Monte Carlo method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the dispersion of an infinite shear beam with a lumped mass connected at periodic distances and resting on an elastic foundation was examined. The effect of periodicity in the finite region of the lumped masses on wave propagation was investigated through a one-dimensional model. The dispersion relationship for Bragg scattering, which consists of one-dimensional periodic lumped masses, was derived using the transfer matrix method. Subsequently, to evaluate the effect of parameters such as the magnitude of the lumped mass and foundation stiffness on the dynamic response of the shear beam, several simulations were performed. The band frequency characteristics of the shear beam are demonstrated with respect to the variations in stiffness and mass. Using the wave-based approach, the effect of periodic masses on wave propagation in a finite region of an infinite beam was revealed. Periodic masses have been shown to have a positive effect on the displacement amplitude; in other words, a lumped mass barrier is effective in providing wave attenuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript develops for the first time a mathematical formulation of the dynamical behavior of bi-directional functionally graded porous plates (BDFGPP) resting on a Winkler–Pasternak foundation using unified higher-order plate theories (UHOPT). The kinematic displacement fields are exploited to fulfill the null shear strain/stress at the bottom and top surfaces of the plate without needing a shear factor correction. The bi-directional gradation of materials is proposed in the axial (x-axis) and transverse (z-axis) directions according to the power-law distribution function. The cosine function is employed to define the distribution of porosity through the transverse z-direction. Equations of motion in terms of displacements and associated boundary conditions are derived in detail using Hamilton's principle. The two-dimensional differential integral quadrature method (2D-DIQM) is employed to transform partial differential equations of motion into a system of algebraic equations. Parametric analysis is performed to illustrate the effect of kinematic shear relations, gradation indices, porosity type, elastic foundations, geometrical dimensions, and boundary conditions (BCs) on natural frequencies and mode shapes of BDFGPP. The effect of the porosity coefficient on the natural frequency is dependent on the porosity type. The natural frequency is dependent on the coupling of gradation indices, boundary conditions, and shear distribution functions. The proposed model can be used in designing BDFGPP used in nuclear, marine, aerospace, and civil structures based on their topology and natural frequency constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To model the vibration and structure-borne sound excitation and propagation of a railway rail, it can be modeled as an infinite beam on an elastic foundation. Existing analytical or numerical models are either formulated in the frequency domain or consider only finite beams in the time domain. Therefore, a time-domain approach for bending wave propagation on an effectively infinite beam on an elastic foundation is proposed. The approach makes use of an implicit finite-difference method that allows for varying properties of the beam and the foundation along the length of the beam. Strategies for an efficient discretization are discussed. The method is validated against existing analytical models for a single layer and two layers, as well as continuous and discrete support. The results show very good agreement, and it can be concluded that the proposed method can be seen as a versatile method for simulating the behavior of a beam on different kinds of elastic foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under thermal environment and axial forces, the dynamic instability of functionally graded graphene platelet (GPLs)-reinforced porous beams on an elastic foundation is investigated. Three modes of porosity distributions and GPL patterns are considered. The governing equations are given by the Hamilton principle. On the basis of the differential quadrature method (DQM), the governing equations are changed into Mathieu–Hill equations, and the main unstable regions of the porous composite beams are studied by the Bolotin method. Thermal buckling and thermo-mechanical vibration problems are also studied. The effects of porosity coefficients and GPL weight fraction, dispersion pattern, initial thermal loading, slenderness ratio, geometry and size, boundary conditions, and foundation stiffness are discussed. The conclusions show that an elastic foundation has an obvious enhancement effect on thermal buckling, free vibration, and dynamic instability, which improves the stiffness of the beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a general formularization of the nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli nanobeam model for a bending examination of the symmetric and asymmetric cross-sectional area of a nanobeam resting over two linear elastic foundations under the effects of different forces, such as axial and shear forces, by considering various boundary conditions' effects. The governing formulations are determined numerically by the Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM). A deep search is used to analyze parameters—such as the nonlocal (scaling effect) parameter, nonuniformity of area, the presence of two linear elastic foundations (Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundations), axial force, and the distributed load on the nanobeam's deflection—with three different types of supports. The significant deductions can be abbreviated as follows: It was found that the nondimensional deflection of the nanobeam was fine while decreasing the scaling effect parameter of the nanobeams. Moreover, when the nanobeam is not resting on any elastic foundations, the nondimensional deflection increases when increasing the scaling effect parameter. Conversely, when the nanobeam is resting on an elastic foundation, the nondimensional deflection of the nanobeam decreases as the scaling effect parameter is increased. In addition, when the cross-sectional area of the nanobeam varies parabolically, the nondimensional deflection of the nonuniform nanobeam decreases in comparison to when the cross-sectional area varies linearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a hyperbolic shear deformation theory for free vibration of functionally graded plates on elastic foundations. The field of displacements is chosen based on the assumptions that axial and transverse displacements consist of components due to bending and shear. The components of the axial shear displacements give rise to the parabolic variation in the shear strain through the thickness, such that the shear stresses vanish on the plate boundaries. Therefore, the shear correction factor is not necessary. The material properties of the functionally graded plate are assumed to vary through the thickness according to the power law of the volume fraction of the constituents. The elastic foundation is modeled as a Pasternak foundation. The equations of motion are derived using Hamilton's principle. The analytical solutions were established from Navier's approach, and the results obtained are found to be in good agreement with the solutions of three-dimensional elasticity and with the solutions of the various plate theories. The effects of the power law index, the thickness ratio, and the foundation parameters on the natural frequency of the plates were also evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the popularity of a completely free beam resting on a tensionless foundation in the construction industry, the existing bending analysis solutions are limited to certain types of loads (mostly point and uniformly distributed loads); these are also quite complex for practicing engineers to handle. To overcome the associated complexity, a simple iterative procedure is developed in this study, which uses the Ritz method for the bending analysis of a free–free beam on a tensionless foundation subjected to a patched load. The Ritz method formulation is first presented with polynomials being used to approximate the beam deflection with unknown constants to be determined through minimization of the potential energy. To account for the tensionless action, the subgrade reaction is set to zero when the deflection is negative. The non-zero subgrade reaction zone is defined by α l L / 2 < x < α r L / 2 where the coefficients α l and α r are to be determined iteratively. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed procedure for symmetrical and asymmetrical problems. The obtained results show high negative deflection, which proves the occurrence of separation between the beam and the supporting tensionless foundation. This location of negative deflection is called the lifted zone, while the point that separates between the negative and positive deflection is called the lift-off point. A parametric study is then performed to study the effect of the amount of load, stiffness of the beam, and the subgrade reaction on the length of the lifted zone. The results of the parametric study indicate that for the same beam stiffness to subgrade reaction modulus ratio ( E I / k ), the lift-off point remains the same and beams with lower stiffnesses or higher loads deflect more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the hygrothermal buckling of smart graphene/piezoelectric circular nanoplates lying on an elastic medium and subjected to an external electric field. The circular nanoplates are made of piezoelectric polymer reinforced with graphene platelets that are uniformly distributed through the thickness of the nanoplate. The material properties of the nanocomposite plate are determined based on the modified Halpin-Tsai model. To capture the nanoscale effects, the nonlocal strain gradient theory is applied. Moreover, the principle of virtual work is employed to establish the nonlinear stability equations in the framework of classical theory. The differential quadrature method is utilized to solve the governing equations. Among the important aims of the paper is to study the influences of various parameters such as graphene weight fraction, elastic foundation parameters, external applied electric field, humid conditions, and boundary conditions on the thermal buckling of the smart nanocomposite circular nanoplates. It is found that the increase in graphene components and elastic foundation stiffness enhances the strength of the plates; therefore, the buckling temperature will increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the wave propagation analysis in functionally graded carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-reinforced composite beams lying on an elastic medium. Despite the large amount of experimental and theoretical studies in the literature on the mechanical behavior of composite structures strengthened with CNTs, limited attention has been paid to the effect of an axial graduation of the reinforcing phase on the mechanical response of CNTs-reinforced composite beams. In this paper, CNT fibers are graded across the beam length, according to a power-law function, which expresses a general variation from a linear to parabolic pattern. An Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is considered herein to model the CNTs-reinforced composite structure resting on a Winkler–Pasternak foundation, whose governing equations are derived from the Hamiltonian principle. The theoretical solution of the problem checks for the sensitivity of the mechanical response to different parameters, i.e., the wave number, power index, Winkler and Pasternak coefficients, that could serve for further computational/experimental studies on the same problem, even from a design standpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a functionally graded piezoelectric plate on an elastic foundation composed of two different piezoelectric materials bonded together in the form of plate is studied, and its static bending and fundamental frequencies are analyzed. First, based on Kirchhoff plate theory and the Hamilton principle, the governing equations and corresponding boundary conditions of the model are derived, and then the equations are discretized and solved by the differential quadrature method (DQM). Finally, the effects of physical parameters such as length-to-height ratio, length-to-width ratio, material graded index, foundation stiffness coefficient, temperature change value and external voltage value on static bending deflection, and fundamental frequency value of the functionally graded piezoelectric plate with four sides simply supported are discussed. The calculated results are in good agreement with those in the literature. The data results show that the increase in the elastic foundation stiffness coefficient will increase the equivalent stiffness of the plate. In the process of work, due to the equivalent pressure value generated by the influence of the external voltage, it will lead to unstable phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock masses with a distinct structure may present a transversely isotropic character; thus, the stress state in a transversely isotropic elastic half-plane surface is an important way to assess the behavior of the interaction between the distributed loading and the surroundings. Most previous theoretical analyses have considered a loading direction that is either vertical or horizontal, and the stress distribution that results from the effect of different loading directions remains unclear. In this paper, based on the transversely isotropic elastic half-plane surface theory, a stress solution that is applicable to distributed loading in any direction is proposed to further examine the loading effect. The consistency between the analytical solution and numerical simulations showed the effectiveness of the proposal that was introduced. Then, it was utilized to analyze the stress distribution rule by changing the Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus of the model. The effects of the formation dip angle on the stress state are also examined. The stress distribution, depending on the physical property parameters and relative angle, is predicted using an analytical solution, and the mechanisms associated with the transversely isotropic elastic half-plane surface subjected to the loading in any direction are clarified. Additionally, extensive analyses regarding this case study, with respect to the mechanical behavior associated with changes in the stress boundary, is available. Hence, the proposed analytical solution can more realistically account for the loading problem in many engineering practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the design of a five-storey hospital building, in which we focus on the deterministic and probabilistic analysis of its slab foundation. The hospital building bearing structure was modeled as a reinforced concrete skeleton. The Boussinesque model was selected for the subsoil under the plate foundation, which was a model of the elastic half-space, where properties of individual layers of the subsoil were entered according to the geological survey. The geological topology consisted of clay gravel and also included a layer of clay sand. In the stochastic solution, the variance of values was considered for individual mechanical properties of different types of soil. We analyzed the influence of the variance of input values on the resulting deflections, strain, and stress state of the plate foundation. Two variants of the solution were considered on the given numerical example. Probability calculations confirmed the probability of failure, which was allowed for the second limit state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the dynamic buckling of bi-directional (BD) functionally graded (FG) porous cylindrical shells for various boundary conditions, where the FG material is modeled by means of power law functions with even and uneven porosity distributions of ceramic and metal phases. The third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) is adopted to derive the governing equations of the problem via the Hamilton's principle. The generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is applied together with the Bolotin scheme as numerical strategy to solve the problem, and to draw the dynamic instability region (DIR) of the structure. A large parametric study examines the effect of different boundary conditions at the extremities of the cylindrical shell, as well as the sensitivity of the dynamic stability to different thickness-to-radius ratios, length-to-radius ratios, transverse and longitudinal power indexes, porosity volume fractions, and elastic foundation constants. Based on results, the dynamic stability of BD-FG cylindrical shells can be controlled efficiently by selecting appropriate power indexes along the desired directions. Furthermore, the DIR is highly sensitive to the porosity distribution and to the extent of transverse and longitudinal power indexes. The numerical results could be of great interest for many practical applications, as civil, mechanical or aerospace engineering, as well as for energy devices or biomedical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a stability analysis of microperiodic beams resting on the periodic inhomogeneous foundation is carried out. The main issue of this considerations, which is the analytical solution to the governing equations characterised by periodic, highly oscillating and non-continuous coefficients, is overwhelmed by the application of the tolerance averaging technique. As a result of such application, the governing equation is transformed into a form with constant coefficients which can be solved using well-known mathematical methods. In several calculation examples, the convergence of the results of two derived averaged models is examined, as well as the convergence of the lowest value of the critical force parameter derived from the averaged models with the FEM model. The results prove the superiority of the presented analytical solution over the FEM analysis in the optimisation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we introduce an efficient scheme for the numerical solution of some Boundary and Initial Value Problems (BVPs-IVPs). By using an operational matrix, which was obtained from the first kind of Chebyshev polynomials, we construct the algebraic equivalent representation of the problem. We will show that this representation of BVPs and IVPs can be represented by a sparse matrix with sufficient precision. Sparse matrices that store data containing a large number of zero-valued elements have several advantages, such as saving a significant amount of memory and speeding up the processing of that data. In addition, we provide the convergence analysis and the error estimation of the suggested scheme. Finally, some numerical results are utilized to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the proposed technique, and also the presented algorithm is applied to solve an engineering problem which is used in a beam on elastic foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibrations of single-layered graphene sheets subjected to a longitudinal magnetic field are considered. The Winkler-type and Pasternak-type foundation models are employed to reproduce the surrounding elastic medium. The governing equation is based on the modified couple stress theory and Kirchhoff–Love hypotheses. The effect of the magnetic field is taken into account due to the Lorentz force deriving from Maxwell's equations. The developed approach is based on applying the Ritz method. The proposed method is tested by a comparison with results from the existing literature. The numerical calculations are performed for different boundary conditions, including the mixed ones. The influence of the material length scale parameter, the elastic foundation parameters, the magnetic parameter and the boundary conditions on vibration frequencies is studied. It is observed that an increase of the magnetic parameter, as well as the elastic foundation parameters, brings results closer to the classical plate theory results. Furthermore, the current study can be applied to the design of microplates and nanoplates and their optimal usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activities of traditional longwall mining will result in ground subsidence and therefore cause issues such as damages to buildings and farmlands, water pollution and loss, and potential ecological and environmental problems in the mining region. With advantages of the longwall backfill mining method, as well as the room and pillar mining method, a continuous excavation and continuous backfill (CECB) method in longwall mining is recommended to effectively control the ground subsidence. In this method, mining roadways (MRs) are initially planned in a panel, and then they are excavated and backfilled in several stages until the whole panel is mined out and backfilled. According to the geologic conditions of an underground coal mine, and the elastic foundation beam theory, a mechanical model was built to study the subsidence of the roof while using this new mining method. In addition, methods to calculate roof subsidence in various stages in CECB were also provided. The mechanical parameters of backfilling materials, which were used in the theoretical calculation and the numerical analysis for mutual check, were defined through analyzing the stability conditions of the coal pillars and the filling bodies. The control effect for the ground subsidence of using the newly proposed mining method was analyzed based on both simulation results and site monitoring results, including the ground subsidence, horizontal displacement, tilt, curvature and horizontal strain. This research could provide suggestions to effectively control ground subsidence for a mine site with similar geologic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimensional vibration of a functionally graded sandwich rectangular plate on an elastic foundation with normal boundary conditions was analyzed using a semi-analytical method based on three-dimensional elasticity theory. The material properties of the sandwich plate varied with thickness according to the power law distribution. Two types of functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates were investigated in this paper: one with a homogeneous core and FGM facesheets, and another with homogeneous panels and an FGM core. Various displacements of the plates were created using an improved Fourier series consisting of a standard Fourier cosine series along with a certain number of closed-form auxiliary functions satisfying the essential boundary conditions. The vibration behavior of the FGM sandwich plate, including the natural frequencies and mode shapes, was obtained using the Ritz method. The effectiveness and accuracy of the suggested technique were fully verified by comparing the natural frequencies of sandwich plates with results from investigations of other functionally graded sandwich rectangular plates in the literature. A parametric study, including elastic parameters, foundation parameters, power law exponents, and layer thickness ratios, was performed, and some new results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bending analysis of thick and moderately thick functionally graded square and rectangular plates as well as plates on Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundation subjected to sinusoidal transverse load is presented in this paper. The plates are assumed to have isotropic, two-constituent material distribution through the thickness, and the modulus of elasticity of the plate is assumed to vary according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. This paper presents the methodology of the application of the high order shear deformation theory based on the shape functions. A new shape function has been developed and the obtained results are compared to the results obtained with 13 different shape functions presented in the literature. Also, the validity and accuracy of the developed theory was verified by comparing those results with the results obtained using the third order shear deformation theory and 3D theories. In order to determine the procedure for the analysis and the prediction of behavior of functionally graded plates, the new program code in the software package MATLAB has been developed based on the theories studied in this paper. The effects of transversal shear deformation, side-to-thickness ratio, and volume fraction distributions are studied and appropriate conclusions are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the nonlinear buckling and post-buckling characteristics of the porous eccentrically stiffened functionally graded sandwich truncated conical shells resting on the Pasternak elastic foundation subjected to axial compressive loads. The core layer is made of a porous material (metal foam) characterized by a porosity coefficient which influences the physical properties of the shells in the form of a harmonic function in the shell's thickness direction. The physical properties of the functionally graded (FG) coatings and stiffeners depend on the volume fractions of the constituents which play the role of the exponent in the exponential function of the thickness direction coordinate axis. The classical shell theory and the smeared stiffeners technique are applied to derive the governing equations taking the von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity into account. Based on the displacement approach, the explicit expressions of the critical buckling load and the post-buckling load-deflection curves for the sandwich truncated conical shells with simply supported edge conditions are obtained by applying the Galerkin method. The effects of material properties, core layer thickness, number of stiffeners, dimensional parameters, semi vertex angle and elastic foundation on buckling and post-buckling behaviors of the shell are investigated. The obtained results are validated by comparing with those in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the exact analytical solutions are developed for the thermodynamic behavior of an Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on an elastic foundation and exposed to a time decaying laser pulse that scans over the beam with a uniform velocity. The governing equations, namely the heat conduction equation and the vibration equation are solved using the Green’s function approach. The temporal and special distributions of temperature, deflection, strain, and the energy absorbed by the elastic foundation are calculated. The effects of the laser motion speed, the modulus of elastic foundation reaction, and the laser pulse duration time are studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]