Shooting method for free vibration of FGM Reissner-Mindlin circular plates resting on elastic foundation in thermal environments

This paper presents a free vibration analysis of functionally graded Reissner-Mindlin circular plates with various supported boundaries in thermal environments. A FGM consisting of metal and ceramic was considered in the study. Based on the geometric equation, physical equation and equilibrium equation of thick plate, taking into account the transverse shearing deformation, the free vibration equation of the axisymmetric FGM moderately thick circular plates was derived in terms of the middle surface angles of rotation and lateral displacement. The material properties of the plate were assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction according a power law. By using shooting method to solve the coupled ordinary differential equations with different boundary conditions, the natural frequencies of FGM thick circular plates were obtained numerically. The effects of material gradient property, thickness ratio and boundary conditions on the natural frequencies were discussed in detail.