Abstract
This study follows an analytical approach to investigate the nonlinear dynamic response and vibration of eccentrically stiffened sandwich functionally graded material (FGM) cylindrical panels with metal–ceramic layers on elastic foundations in thermal environments. It is assumed that the FGM cylindrical panel is reinforced by the eccentrically longitudinal and transversal stiffeners and subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. The material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution. Based on the Reddy’s third-order shear deformation shell theory, the motion and compatibility equations are derived taking into account geometrical nonlinearity and Pasternak-type elastic foundations. The outstanding feature of this study is that both FGM cylindrical panel and stiffeners are assumed to be deformed in the presence of temperature. Explicit relation of deflection–time curves and frequencies of FGM cylindrical panel are determined by applying stress function, Galerkin method and fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The influences of material and geometrical parameters, elastic foundations and stiffeners on the nonlinear dynamic and vibration of the sandwich FGM panels are discussed in detail. The obtained results are validated by comparing with other results in the literature.
Keywords
Introduction
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are microscopically inhomogeneous made from a mixture of metal and ceramic, and their mechanical properties vary smoothly and continuously from one surface to the other. Functionally graded structures, such as cylindrical panels and cylindrical shells in recent years, play an important part in the modern industries. They are used as primary load-carrying parts in spacecraft and missile structures which are usually exposed to very severe loading conditions. Therefore, globally, researches on static and dynamic stability of these structures have received special attention. Song et al. [1] studied the active vibration control of carbon nanotube-reinforced functionally graded composite cylindrical shell using piezoelectric materials. Mehralian et al. [2] investigated buckling of anisotropic piezoelectric cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression and lateral pressure based on the new modified couple stress theory and using the shear deformation theory with the von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity. Mirzaei and Kiani [3] researched free vibration characteristics of composite plates reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes. Sofiyev et al. [4] dealt with the nonlinear vibration of orthotropic cylindrical shells on the nonlinear elastic foundations. Hosseini-Hashemi et al. [5] concentrated on presenting a reliable and accurate method for free vibration of functionally graded viscoelastic cylindrical panel under various boundary conditions. Based on 3D elasticity theory, Norouzi and Alibeigloo [6] carried out thermoviscoelastic analysis of FGM cylindrical panel under thermal and/or mechanical load, while Ahmed [7] investigated how the corrugation parameters and the Winkler foundation affect the buckling behavior of isotropic and orthotropic thin-elliptic cylindrical shells with cosine-shaped meridian subjected to radial loads. Quan et al. [8] focused on the nonlinear dynamic analysis and vibration of shear deformable imperfect eccentrically stiffened functionally graded thick cylindrical panels, taking into account the damping when subjected to mechanical loads. Further, Chen et al. [9] studied the structural–acoustic radiation problem of cylindrical shell structures with complex acoustic boundary conditions. Shen [10] presented modeling and analysis for the postbuckling of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite cylindrical panels resting on elastic foundations subjected to lateral pressure in thermal environments. Recently, Duc et al. [11] investigated the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling of eccentrically stiffened functionally graded thin-elliptical cylindrical shells surrounded on elastic foundations in thermal environment.
A thick structure is defined as a structure with a thickness which is large compared to its other dimensions, but in which deformations are still not large compared to thickness. When studying nonlinear analysis of thick structures, first-order shear deformation theory and higher order shear deformation theory are usually used, in which the effects of transverse shear and normal stresses in structures are taken into account. Despite their complexity, the mechanical behaviors of thick structures, such as bending, vibration, stability, buckling, etc., have attracted the attention of many researchers. Zhou and Zhu [12] utilized the third-order shear deformation plate theory to analyze the vibration and bending of the simply supported magneto-electro-elastic rectangular plates. Sayyaadi et al. [13] presented an analytical solution for power output from a piezoelectric shallow shell energy harvester using higher order shear deformation theory, and Selim et al. [14] studied the free vibration behavior of carbon nanotube-reinforced functionally graded composite plates in a thermal environment based on Reddy’s higher order shear deformation theory. Wattanasakulpong et al. [15] employed an improved third-order shear deformation theory to investigate free and forced vibration responses of FGM plates. Yang and Shen [16] and Huang and Shen [17] dealt with the nonlinear vibration and dynamic response of functionally graded material plates in thermal environments. Amirpour et al. [18] introduced the deformation solution of FGM plates with variation of material stiffness through their length using higher order shear deformation theory including stretching effects. Groh and Weaver [19] discussed the static inconsistencies that arise when modelling the flexural behavior of beams, plates, and shells with clamped boundary conditions using a certain class of axiomatic, higher order shear deformation theory. He et al. [20] presented a finite element formulation based on the classical laminated plate theory for the shape and vibration control of the FGM plates with integrated piezoelectric sensors and actuators. Quan and Duc [21] investigated the nonlinear static and dynamic stability of imperfect eccentrically stiffened FGM higher order shear deformable double-curved shallow shell on elastic foundations in thermal environments. Shao et al. [22] presented a unified formulation which is based on a general refined shear deformation beam theory to conduct free vibration analysis of composite laminated beams subjected to general boundary conditions.
Stiffeners are secondary plates or sections which are attached to structures to stiffen them against out-of-plane deformations. Stiffeners can be critical to the performance of the structures since a properly placed stiffener can increase the capacity of the member it supports. Therefore, in recent years, many investigations have been carried out on the mechanical behaviors of structures which are reinforced by stiffeners. Yang et al. [23] tested eight stiffened square concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns with slender sections of encasing steel and two non-stiffened counterparts subjected to axial compressive load. Xu et al. [24] developed a new effective smeared stiffener method to compute the global buckling load of grid-stiffened composite panels. Turner and Vizzini [25] conducted a study to determine the effect of integral stiffeners on the damage growth and ultimate strength of sandwich panels with impact damage. Tong and Guo [26] investigated the elastic buckling behavior of steel trapezoidal corrugated shear walls with vertical stiffeners. Feng et al. [27] studied the effect of impact damage positions on the buckling and postbuckling behaviors of stiffened composite panels under axial compression. Duc et al. [28] presented an analytical approach to investigate the nonlinear stability analysis of eccentrically stiffened thin FGM cylindrical panels on elastic foundations subjected to mechanical loads, thermal loads and the combination of these loads. Farahani et al. [29] dealt with an analytical approach of the buckling behavior of an FGM circular cylindrical shell under axial pressure with external axial and circumferential stiffeners. Shen et al. [30] developed a theoretical model to predict sound transmission loss across periodically and orthogonally stiffened composite laminate sandwich structures using the first-order shear deformation theory. Recently, Duc [31] studied the nonlinear dynamic response of higher order shear deformable sandwich functionally graded circular cylindrical shells with outer surface-bonded piezoelectric actuator on elastic foundations subjected to thermo-electro-mechanical and damping loads.
New contribution of the paper is that this is the first investigation that successfully established the modeling and analytical formulations for the nonlinear vibration and dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM thick cylindrical panels with metal–ceramic layers subjected to mechanical loads in thermal environments using the Reddy’s third-order shear deformation shell theory. The outstanding feature of this study is that both FGM cylindrical panel and stiffeners are assumed to be deformed in the presence of temperature. The nonlinear equations are solved by the Galerkin method and fourth-order Runge-Kutta method.
Modeling of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels on elastic foundations
Consider an eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel with the radii of curvature, thickness, axial length and arc length of the panel are R, h, a and b, respectively. The FGM cylindrical panel is assumed to be rested on elastic foundations (Figure 1). A coordinate system Geometry and coordinate system of eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels on elastic foundations. Configuration of longitudinal and transversal stiffeners of eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels.

By applying the power law distribution, the volume fractions of ceramic and metal of the FGM cylindrical panels are assumed as [21,28]
It is assumed that the effective properties
A material property
The effective properties in equation (2) of the FGM cylindrical panel are obtained by substituting equation (1) into equation (2) as
The cylindrical panel–foundation interaction of Pasternak model is given by
Basic equations
In this study, the Reddy’s third order-shear deformation shell theory is used to derive basic equations to investigate the nonlinear dynamic response and vibration of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels on elastic foundations in thermal environments.
The normal strains
Hooke’s law for an FGM cylindrical panel with temperature-dependent properties is defined as [8,11]
The stress–strain relations of the stiffeners can be given as follows
In this paper, we assumed that the force and moment resultants of an eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel under temperature can be constructed by the combination of the integrations of the stresses over the panel thickness and those of corresponding stiffener contributions (including the thermal stress in the stiffeners) as follows
It is assumed that both material properties and geometrical shapes of stiffeners depend on temperature, and they are deformed in the presence of temperature. After the thermal deformation process, the geometrical parameters of stiffeners can be determined as [8,11,32]
Substitution of equation (7) into equations (9) and (10) and the result into equation (11) yields the constitutive relations as
The nonlinear motion equations of FGM cylindrical panel are [32]
The geometrical compatibility equation for an FGM cylindrical panel is written as [32]
From equation (13), one can write
Imposing equation (19) into equations (14a) and (14b) yields
Substituting equations (8), (13), (20a) and (20b) into equations (7c) to (7e) leads to
Introducing equation (17) into equation (16) gives the compatibility equation of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel as
Equations (21) and (23) are nonlinear equations in terms of variables
Nonlinear vibration analysis
In the present study, four edges of the FGM cylindrical panel are assumed to be simply supported and freely movable. The associated boundary conditions are
The mentioned condition (25) can be satisfied identically if the approximate solutions are represented by [8,21,32]
By introducing equation (26) into the compatibility equation (23), we define the stress function as
Replacing equations (26) and (27) into equation (21) and then applying Galerkin method to the resulting equations yields
This is the basic equation to determine the nonlinear vibration of an eccentrically stiffened thick FGM cylindrical panel on elastic foundations in thermal environments.
Nonlinear dynamic response
Consider an eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel acted on by an uniformly distributed transverse load
The nonlinear dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel can be obtained by solving this equation combined with initial conditions to be assumed as
Natural frequencies
In the case of
Three angular frequencies of the FGM cylindrical panel in the axial, circumferential and radial directions are determined by solving equation (30) and the smallest one is being considered.
Numerical results and discussion
Validation
Comparison of natural frequencies for isotropic square FGM plates (
Material properties of the constituent materials of the considered FGM panel.
Secondly, Figure 3 compares the dynamic response of simply supported eccentrically stiffened S-FGM cylindrical panel with metal–ceramic–metal layers under uniform external pressure using the results of Quan et al. [8] in the case of temperature-independent properties. Again, this comparison study also shows that the present result agrees very well the existing result.
Comparisons of nonlinear dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened S-FGM cylindrical panel under uniform external pressure with the results of Quan et al. [8].
Next, we will investigate the effects of the volume fraction index, the geometrical dimensions, elastic foundations, imperfections and stiffeners on the nonlinear response of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel.
The effective material properties with dependent temperature in equation (5) are listed in Table 2, and the Poisson’s ratio is
The parameters for the stiffeners are [29]
Natural frequencies
Effects of elastic foundations, ratio
Effects of volume fraction index
Figure 4 considers the influences of volume fraction index N on the nonlinear dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels with movable edges in thermal environments. It is clear that the fluctuation amplitude of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel increases when the volume fraction index N decreases. This is reasonable because from equation (1), it is easy to see that when the volume fraction index N decreases, the volume fraction of ceramic decreases (the volume fraction of metal increases). Furthermore, the elastic module of ceramic is higher than metal ( Effect of volume fraction index N on the nonlinear dynamic response of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments.
The ceramic volume fraction is decreased; moreover, elastic module of ceramic is higher than metal (
Effects of temperature increment
Effect of temperature increment, Effects of temperature increment on the nonlinear dynamic response of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments.
Effects of elastic foundations
Figures 6 and 7 indicate the effect of elastic foundations on the nonlinear dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel in thermal environments with Effect of the linear Winkler foundation on nonlinear dynamic response of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments. Effect of the Pasternak foundation on nonlinear dynamic response of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments.

Effects of stiffeners
Figure 8 illustrates the effects of stiffeners on the nonlinear dynamic response of the FGM cylindrical panels with movable edges in thermal environments. Obviously, the fluctuation amplitude of the eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel is lower than the FGM cylindrical panel without stiffeners. In other words, the stiffeners strongly decrease the amplitude of the FGM cylindrical panels.
Effects of stiffeners on the nonlinear dynamic response of FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments.
Effects of force amplitude
Figure 9 indicates the effect of exciting force amplitude Q on nonlinear dynamic response of FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments. Three values Effects of exciting force amplitude on the nonlinear dynamic response of FGM cylindrical panels in thermal environments.
Effects of geometrical parameters
Figures 10 to 12 show the effects of geometrical parameters on nonlinear dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened FGM cylindrical panel in thermal environments with Effects of ratio Effects of ratio Effects of ratio 


Conclusions
This work studied the nonlinear vibration and dynamic response of eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM thick cylindrical panels with metal–ceramic layers on Pasternalk elastic foundations in thermal environments. The sandwich FGM panel is reinforced by the eccentrically longitudinal and transversal stiffeners and subjected to mechanical load and temperature. The sandwich panel’s properties with metal–ceramic layers depend on temperature and change according to the nonlinear function of the thickness. Governing equations are derived using the Reddy’s third-order shear deformation shell theory and solved by the Galerkin method and fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The present numerical results are compared with other results obtained from the literature. Some conclusions can be obtained from the numerical analysis in this study:
The stiffener system strongly reduces the amplitude of the eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels. Temperature increment has a significant negative influence on the nonlinear vibration of the eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels. Elastic foundations have beneficial effect on the nonlinear dynamic response and natural frequencies of eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels. Moreover, the influence of nonlinear Pasternalk foundation is stronger than the linear Winkler foundation. The excitation force strongly influences the dynamic response of the eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels. The geometrical parameters have strong influences on the nonlinear vibration of the eccentrically stiffened sandwich FGM cylindrical panels.
Footnotes
Author's Note
Nguyen D Duc is also affiliated with National Research Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, Korea.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Grant in Mechanics code 107.02-2015.03 of the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development of Vietnam – NAFOSTED. The authors are grateful for this support.
