A Four-Node Shell Element for Geometrically Nonlinear Analysis of Thin FGM Plates and Shells

This chapter presents a static behavior of geometrically nonlinear of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) thin shell structures. The proposed model, based on Kirchhoff shell element, consists in annulling the transverse shear deformation. The developed model is generalized to plates and shells such as cylindrical, conical, spherical, and hyperboloid shells. Material properties are assumed to be graded through the thickness by varying the volume fraction of the ceramic and the metallic constituents using power-law distribution. Numerical results are presented for pinched hemisphere. The load parameter is plotted versus the deflection in the two loading point A and B. Numerical results are compared with previous works. A good agreement between the present results and the literature confirms the high accuracy of the current nonlinear model for an isotropic material. The load parameter of FGM pinched hemisphere is plotted versus the deflection at the loading points by varying the power index from metal to ceramic. The deflection gap between the loading points A and B increases with the power index.