Flexural behavior of functionally graded skew sandwich plates with geometrical deviations under hygro-thermal loading

The advanced composite materials developed by Japanese are Functionally Graded Materials (FGM). They maintain structural integrity at high temperatures. These materials have gain popularity for spacecraft and nuclear plants. Flexural behavior of Functionally Graded (FG) skew sandwich plates with geometrical deviations subjected to hygro-thermal loading is carried out in the present work. FG plates are analyzed using Higher Order Zigzag Theory (HOZT). The condition of continuous transversal shear stress at the inter-laminar junctions is fulfilled in this study using HOZT. Finite Element code is derived to predict dimensionless deflections. Convergence and Validation analysis is presented to depict the correctness and authenticity of the current methodology wherein the findings from the analysis are authenticated with the existing studies. Parametric analysis is presented to determine the effect of regulating system components such as aspect ratio, skew angle, boundary conditions, various deviation types along with deviation amplitudes on dimensionless transversal displacement components. The behavior of such FG plates with geometrical deviations is more accurate with consideration of zig-zag effects. The geometry of the plates influences the displacement along with the skew angle. The current investigation includes some novel findings that can be a baseline for further studies in this area.