Thermo‐mechanical nonlinear stability analysis of geometrically imperfect functionally graded plates with microstructural defects using logarithmic structure kinematics: An unified expression.

In the present paper, thermo‐mechanical stability analysis of geometrically imperfect porous functionally graded plates (FGP) with geometric nonlinearity is presented. The equilibrium, stability, and compatibility equations are derived using Logarithmic structural kinematics in conjunction with the von‐Karman type of geometric nonlinearity. A logarithmic‐based shear‐strain function has been used for the first time for the buckling response of functionally graded material (FGM) plates. Generic imperfection function has been implemented to incorporate the various imperfection modes like sin‐type or global type in the formulation. The effective materials properties of the plates with porosity inclusion have been computed using modified power law. The plate is subjected to uniaxial and biaxial compression as well as combined compression and tension along with thermal loading. An exact expression for the critical buckling load and critical buckling thermal load of geometrically imperfect porous FGM plate for each loading case has been developed. After confirming the excellent accuracy of the current exact solutions, the effect of geometric imperfection, porosity inclusion, and geometric configurations on the nonlinear stability of the FGM plate have been discussed extensively. The results presented in this paper will be used as a benchmark for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]