BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED MINDLIN PLATES SUBJECTED TO LINEARLY VARYING IN-PLANE LOADING USING POWER SERIES METHOD OF FROBENIUS

In this paper, buckling behavior of moderately thick functionally graded rectangular plates resting on elastic foundation subjected to linearly varying in-plane loading is investigated. The neutral surface position for a functionally graded plate which its material properties vary in the thickness direction is determined. Based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory and the neutral surface concept, the equilibrium and stability equations are derived. An analytical approach is employed to decouple the stability equations, as these equations are converted into two decoupled equations. Employing Levy-type solution, the buckling equation is reduced to an ordinary differential equation with variable coefficients and solved exactly using power series method of Frobenius. To examine accuracy of the present formulation and procedure, several convergence and comparison studies are investigated. Furthermore, the effects of different parameters of plate and elastic foundation on the critical buckling load of functionally graded rectangular plate are discussed.