Thermal buckling of FGM shells resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation

This paper focuses on the thermal buckling analysis of FGM shells resting on the two-parameter elastic foundation. Material properties of the constituents are graded in the thickness direction according to the power-law distribution. The surrounding elastic medium is modeled as an elastic foundation of the Pasternak-type. After giving the fundamental relations, the stability and compatibility equations of an FGM truncated conical shell subjected to thermal load and resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation have been derived. Critical temperature differences of FGM truncated conical shells with or without elastic foundations subjected to non-linearly distributed temperature across the thickness of the shells are obtained by solving eigenvalue problems. The appropriate formulas for FGM cylindrical shells with or without elastic foundations are found as a special case. In order to assure the accuracy of the present study, convergence properties of the critical temperature are examined in detail. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.