Dynamic analysis of elastic and viscoelastic FGM rectangular plates

The main objective of this paper is to employ a finite element analysis for the free and forced vibration response of functionally graded material (FGM) rectangular plates with several boundary conditions in ANSYS. The material is assumed to be linear elastic and vary continuously in the thickness direction. The shear deformation is considered via the first-order shear deformation theory. The viscoelastic behavior of the plates is predicted by using the Kelvin damping method. In the case of forced vibration, step loads and impulsive loads are implemented. The optimum number of layers for the discretization of FGM plates is determined to obtain the natural frequencies and forced vibration characteristics. Moreover, the influence of several parameters, such as material gradient index, boundary condition, damping ratio, and loading type, on the dynamic behaviors of FGM rectangular plates is discussed. Results show that increasing the material gradient index raises the period and amplitude of dynamic responses, while boundary conditions exert a comparatively smaller influence. Additionally, fewer layers are sufficient for accurate transient response prediction than for natural frequency analysis.