Static deformations of functionally graded polar-orthotropic cylinders with elliptical inner and circular outer surfaces

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) enable one to tailor the spatial variation of material properties so as to fully use the material everywhere. For example, in a hollow circular cylinder one can vary, in the radial direction, the material moduli to make the hoop stress constant. Whereas the problem for a hollow cylinder with the inner and the outer surfaces circular has been studied, that of a cylinder with a circular outer surface and a non-circular inner surface or vice versa has not been investigated. We study here such a plane-strain problem when the cylinder material is polar-orthotropic, material properties vary exponentially in the radial direction, and deformations are independent of the axial coordinate. The problem is challenging since the cylinder thickness varies with the angular position of a point, and the cylinder material is inhomogeneous. Equilibrium equations are solved by expanding the radial and the circumferential displacements in Fourier series in the angular coordinate. The method of Frobenius series is used to solve ordinary differential equations for coefficients of the Fourier series, and boundary conditions are satisfied in the sense of Fourier series. A parametric study has been conducted that delineates effects on stresses of the eccentricity of the ellipse, the material property gradation index and loads applied on boundaries of the cylinder. The analytical solutions presented here will serve as benchmarks for comparing solutions derived by numerical methods. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.