Mesh-free thermal buckling analysis of multilayered composite plates based on an nth-order shear deformation theory

This study aims at exploring buckling behavior of multilayered composite plates including functionally graded material (FGM) layer in thermal environments by using a mesh-free method. The thermal buckling of the composite plate laminated with FGM layer is formulated by an improved Moving Kriging (MK) meshless method based on an nth-order shear deformation theory which enables the optimal order number to provide the best prediction to be chosen. In the improved MK mesh-free method, the covariance basis function is presented in a compactly supported form to build the shape functions with no fitting parameters. Four types of multilayered composite plates with FGM layer subjected to in-plane and through-thickness temperature changes are considered, and the material properties are both position and temperature dependent. Performance accuracy of the proposed mesh-free method is first confirmed by comparing the computed results with the reference solutions available in the literature, followed by the detailed parametric studies in which the effects of the ingredient fraction, FGM constituents, composition scheme, plate geometric parameter and boundary condition are scrutinized focusing on temperature dependency of the material properties.