Imperfection sensitivity in the nonlinear vibration of initially stresses functionally graded plates

In this paper, the nonlinear partial differential equations of nonlinear vibration for an imperfect functionally graded plate (FGP) in a general state of arbitrary initial stresses are presented. The derived equations include the effects of initial stresses and initial imperfections size. The material properties of a FGP are graded continuously in the direction of thickness. The variation of the properties follows a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Using these derived governing equations, the nonlinear vibration of initially stressed FGPs with geometric imperfection was studied. The present approach employed a perturbation technique, the Galerkin method and the Runge-Kutta method. The perturbation technique was used to derive the nonlinear governing equations. The motion of imperfect FGPs was obtained by performing the Galerkin method and then solved by the Runge-Kutta method. Numerical solutions are presented for the performances of perfect and imperfect FGPs. The nonlinear vibration of a simply supported ceramic/metal FGP was solved. It is found that the initial stress, geometric imperfection and volume fraction index greatly change the behavior of nonlinear vibration. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.