A study on the influence of material gradient index on bending and stress responses of FGM rectangular plates using the Finite Element Method

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are advanced materials designed to achieve specific property gradients. The unique characteristic of these materials—variations in spatial dimensions—allows for integrating the advantages of different materials within a single component, where a combination of properties, such as mechanical strength, thermal resistance, and others, is needed. This paper utilizes finite element analysis to examine the deflection and stress responses of FGM rectangular plates with different material gradient profiles. Various boundary conditions, including clamped, simply supported, and free edges in different configurations, are considered. The plates are subjected to uniformly distributed, sinusoidally distributed, and concentrated loads. The study investigates the effects of boundary and loading conditions, along with the impact of the material gradient, on the deflections and stress responses of FGM rectangular plates. The results indicate variations in deflection and stress values for different material gradients, under varying boundary and loading conditions.