Vibration and Buckling Analysis of FGM Cylindrical Shell Panels

A functionally graded material (FGM) can be considered to be a mixture of two or more material phases. The material properties vary continuously and smoothly through the thickness or area. The present paper will explore free vibration and buckling analysis of cylindrical panels made of functionally graded materials. The vibration and buckling analysis is done using ANSYS. A 20 x 20 mesh size is used for the vibration and buckling analysis. The model of FGM section is considered as a laminated composite section consisting of layers and each layer is regarded as isotropic. Material properties of each layer are determined by using power law proposed by Reddy. Young’s modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio, and density change along the thickness based on power law. Convergence of fundamental frequency is observed with decrease in size of mesh. To verify the cylindrical panel model the free vibration and buckling results are compared to previously published results. Having secured the number of layers required and the size of mesh to represent the material property change along depth, the change in frequencies with variation in material property index is studied. The effect of geometric and material parameters such as gradient index, aspect ratio, and radius to thickness ratios on the free vibration and buckling of cylindrical panels is studied. It is observed that with an increase in gradient index, the frequency of vibration and buckling load decrease