A four variable trigonometric integral plate theory for hygro-thermo-mechanical bending analysis of AFG ceramic-metal plates resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation

In this research, a simple four-variable trigonometric integral shear deformation model is proposed for the static behavior of advanced functionally graded (AFG) ceramic-metal plates supported by a two-parameter elastic foundation and subjected to a nonlinear hygro-thermo-mechanical load. The elastic properties, including both the thermal expansion and moisture coefficients of the plate, are also supposed to be varied within thickness direction by following a power law distribution in terms of volume fractions of the components of the material. The interest of the current theory is seen in its kinematics that use only four independent unknowns, while first-order plate theory and other higher-order plate theories require at least five unknowns. The "in-plane displacement field" of the proposed theory utilizes cosine functions in terms of thickness coordinates to calculate out-of-plane shear deformations. The vertical displacement includes flexural and shear components. The elastic foundation is introduced in mathematical modeling as a two-parameter Winkler-Pasternak foundation. The virtual displacement principle is applied to obtain the basic equations and a Navier solution technique is used to determine an analytical solution. The numerical results predicted by the proposed formulation are compared with results already published in the literature to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed theory. The influences of "moisture concentration", temperature, stiffness of foundation, shear deformation, geometric ratios and volume fraction variation on the mechanical behavior of AFG plates are examined and discussed in detail.