Numerical and analytical stress analysis for a FGM beam

Abstract This study investigates the importance of material selection and the material index in FGM beam stress analysis. The stress distribution in functionally graded beams (FGMBs) using, FEA, numerical methods are investigated. Three different material distribution functions are examined, power law, modified symmetric power law, and sigmoid. The maximum equivalent and shear stresses occurs for each function and at different values of the material index (k) are considered. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of material distribution function selection and material index values in determining the stress distribution and behavior of FGM beams. The study uses ANSYS 2020 for numerical analysis. The material properties of aluminum and alumina are used for the FGM beam. The results indicate that power law functions has a higher stress compared to modified symmetric power law. The best formula can be used in making FGM is modified symmetric power law as it produce minimum equivalent and shear stresses in comparison with the other formulas. The value of the material index (k) significantly affects the magnitude of both shear and equivalent stress for power law, modified symmetric power law only. The value of the material index (k) significantly influences the magnitude of both shear and equivalent stress.