Transient thermoelastic analysis of FGM rotating thick cylindrical pressure vessels under arbitrary boundary and initial conditions

Assuming arbitrary boundary and initial conditions, a transient thermo-elastic analysis of a rotating thick cylindrical pressure vessel made of functionally graded material (FGM) subjected to axisymmetric mechanical and transient thermal loads is presented. Time-dependent thermal and mechanical boundary conditions are assumed to act on the boundaries of the vessel. Material properties of the vessel are assumed to be graded in the radial direction according to a power law function. The Poisson’s ratio is assumed to be constant. Method of separation of variables has been used to analytically calculate the time dependent temperature distribution as a function of radial direction. In a case study, the distribution of radial and hoop stresses along the thickness is derived and plotted. In order to validate the model, the analytical results have been compared with finite element method modeling results presented in literature. Any arbitrary boundary and initial conditions can be handled using the equations derived in the present research. In order to investigate the inhomogeneity effect on time dependent stress distribution and displacements, values of the parameters have been set arbitrary in the present study. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, in previous researches, transient thermo-elastic analysis of thick cylindrical FGM pressure vessels is investigated by numerical methods, while in the present research, an exact solution is derived for the same problem.