Dynamic and stability analysis of functionally graded material sandwich plates in hygro-thermal environment using a simple higher shear deformation theory

A new simple “four-variable shear deformation” plate model is proposed in this work to demonstrate the hygro-thermal environment effects on dynamic and buckling of functionally graded material “sandwich plates” supported by “Winkler–Pasternak” elastic foundations. Equations of motion are obtained from Hamilton’s principle containing the hygro-thermal influences. This model uses only “four variables” and considers trigonometric variation of “transverse shear stress.” In addition, these stresses become zero at the upper and lower surfaces of the “sandwich plate.” The novelty of this formulation is the addition of the integral term in the field of displacement, which leads to a reduction of the number of unknowns and basic equations. Various kinds of functionally graded material “sandwich plates” are examined in this study. To verify the validity of the model, the calculated results are compared with the existing results. Comparison investigations reveal that the computed results of the proposed formulation are in excellent agreement with those of other “higher shear deformation theories.” Parametric investigation is established to demonstrate the effects of temperature rise, moisture condition, elastic foundation coefficients, and power law index on the vibration and buckling of functionally graded material “sandwich plates.”