September 19, 2022 18:2 WSPC-277-IJCMSE S2047-6841 2250013

International Journal of Computational Materials

Science and Engineering
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2023) 2250013 (25 pages)
c World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.
DOI: 10.1142/S2047684122500130

Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically

supported FGM sandwich plate via new tangent
HSDT: A meshfree approach

Rahul Kumar∗ , Anand Jain† and Mahendra Singh‡

Department of Mechanical Engineering,
SVNIT, Surat 395007, India
∗rahul22mech@gmail.com
†jainanand.1601@gmail.com
‡ms861808@gmail.com

Jigyasa Singh§ and Jeeoot Singh¶

Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology
Gorakhpur 273001, U.P., India
§jigyasasingh0612@gmail.com
¶jsme@mmmut.ac.in

Received 22 August 2021

Revised 21 May 2022
Accepted 24 May 2022
Published 26 July 2022

In this paper, new tangent shape function-based higher-order transverse shear deforma-
tion theory (NTHSDT) is proposed to compute the buckling behavior of the elastically
supported functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates under porous medium.
The proposed theory is found to be variationally consistent and fulfills the zero traction
boundary conditions on the bottom and top layer without a shear correction factor. The
material properties are presumed to be graded in the thickness direction as characterized
by a modified power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of constituents. The
governing equations are derived using Hamilton’s Principle. A strong form of solution
discretizes the governing equations by employing a thin plate spline radial basis function-
based collocation (TSRBFC) method. The proposed theory is efficient, reliable, and is
in close agreement with the results in the literature. Comparison studies show that the
NTHSDT is more accurate than other plate theories and is simple in analyzing buckling
behavior. A parametric study is done to examine the effects of grading index, poros-
ity index, sandwich schemes, aspect ratio, side-to-length thickness ratio and foundation
stiffness.

Keywords: Sandwich plate; FGM; buckling; porosity index; foundation; meshfree.

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1. Introduction
Sandwich structures are broadly used structures that usually consist of two thin
stiff face sheets and a relatively thick intermediate core of lightweight and flexible
material. The overall goals of these structures are to increase the bending strength
and produce the lightweight structure. Sandwich structures are making place in
industrial applications where high strength and flexure to weight ratios are manda-
tory mechanical properties. These industries are mainly aerospace, marine/naval,
automobile, and infrastructure. The central issue in conventional varieties of sand-
wich structures is the abrupt variation in material properties along the interface
between the face sheets and the core, which can amount to large laminar stresses
and delamination. In the past few decades, FGM has been introduced in sandwich
design [Froimson et al., 2007; Konyashin et al., 2017; Sadollah and Bahreinineja,
2012], wherein FGM primarily comprises two or more material properties that vary
continuously from one layer to another layer in a predetermined manner. These
structures collapse mostly by buckling when exposed to external pressure. In this
regard, buckling analysis, as an important part of the mechanical study, has been
investigated for sandwich FGM plate by many researchers using various methods
and theories.
Numerous researchers have predicted the buckling behavior of the FGM plates
by implementing the equivalent single layer (ESL) theories. The easiest ESL plate
theory is the classical plate theory (CPT), also called the Kirchoff theory [Kir-
choff, 1850], which assumes that the plane normal to the midplane remains normal
after deformation. It disregards the effect of transverse shear stresses and gives
inaccurate results. It predicts yielding precisely for thin plates only [Feldman and
Aboudi, 1997; Javaheri and Eslami, 2002]. To overcome the constraints in CPT,
Mindlin [1951] and Reissner [1945] examined the response of transverse shear on
plate deformation, resulting in the evolution of First-order Shear Deformation The-
ory (FSDT). It is easy to execute and can be applied for thin and thick FGM plates.
Various researchers investigated the buckling response of FGM plates administered
to mechanical loading using FSDT [Wu et al., 2007; Yaghoobi and Yaghoobi, 2013;
Zhang et al., 2014]. The main drawback of the FSDT is the prerequisite of an appro-
priate shear correction factor, and determining it is a cumbersome task. The short-
comings of the CLPT and the FSDT led researchers to explore the scope of higher-
order shear deformation theories (HSDTs). These establish zero transverse shear
stress conditions on the plate’s top and base without the additional requirement of
a shear correction factor and give more precise and stable solutions. In the litera-
ture, the HSDTs are further sub-characterized into polynomial and non-polynomial
theories. Reddy [1984] developed polynomial third-order shear deformation theory
(TSDT) for laminated composite plates, which was further incorporated by Ferreira
et al. [2005] and Oktem et al. [2012]. Sobhy [2020] proposed a novel shear deforma-
tion theory to estimate the hygro-thermal buckling behavior of porous FGM sand-
wich microplates and microbeams. Grover et al. [2013a] accurately predicted the

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

static and buckling effects on laminated and sandwich plates using a new hyperbolic
HSDT with nonlinear distribution of transverse shear stresses. Nguyen and Nguyen
[2015] adopted a new mixed theory with inverse hyperbolic function to investigate
the static, buckling, and free vibration of FGM sandwich beams. Karama et al.
[2003] presented an exponential HSDT to study composite beams. Soltani et al.
[2019] accounted for a new hyperbolic plate theory and analyzed the bucking behav-
ior of Winkler and Pasternak elastically supported FGM plates. Meziane et al. [2014]
used a simple and efficient refined HSDT for the buckling and vibration analysis
of exponentially graded elastically supported FGM sandwich plate under different
boundary conditions. Bourada et al. [2012] employed refined plate theory for the
examination of thermal buckling response on FGM sandwich plate. Menasria et al.
[2017] introduced new HSDT for the thermal buckling analysis of FGM sandwich
plate under various temperature distributions. Shukla and Singh [2019] proposed
a new hyperbolic HSDT model for the static response of laminated plate via the
meshfree method. Joshan et al. [2017] introduced a new HSDT displacement field
with analytical approach for the investigation of laminated composite plates sub-
jected to various loading conditions. Kumar et al. [2019a] introduced a new HSDT
for vibration and buckling response of porous FGM plate via meshfree methods. Sah
and Ghosh [2021] used inverse trigonometric shear deformation model for the free
vibration and buckling response of FGM plate via finite element method. Kumar
et al. [2019b] introduced two new HSDTs for flexure investigation of FGM plate
subjected to patch loading. Mantari et al. [2012a] introduced a new trigonometric
HSDT model for the analysis of plates. Mantari and Guedes Soares [2014] introduced
a new HSDT for bending response of advanced composite plates. Tran et al. [2019]
developed a novel TSDT to determine the bending and thermal buckling response
of FGM sandwich beams in a high-temperature environment. Moradi-Dastjerdi and
Malek-Mohammadi [2017] used a new, improved HSDT model for the biaxial buck-
ling response of a sandwich plate with FGM nanocomposite face sheets. Taibi et al.
[2015] accounted the bending response of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate
under thermo-mechanical conditions via a new four-variable HSDT.
FGM sandwich structures have been a subject area of extensive research activ-
ities, and quite several investigations have been carried out to explore the buckling
behavior of FGM sandwich plates. Thai et al. [2012] examined the vibration and
buckling response of laminated composite plates using HSDT via a novel finite ele-
ment formulation. Zenkour [2005a] studied the buckling, bending, and vibration of
FGM sandwich plate via a sinusoidal shear deformation plate theory. Singh and
Harsha [2019] derived the free vibration and buckling characteristics of an elasti-
cally supported sandwich S-FGM plate. Wang et al. [2003] presented the buck-
ling response of anisotropic and isotropic rectangular plates via the differential
quadrature technique. Kumar and Singh [2018] examined the buckling analysis
of FGM plate via RBF technique. Sitli et al. [2021] studied buckling and post-
buckling response of FGM plate via asymptotic numerical methodology. Meksi et al.

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R. Kumar et al.

[2019] presented a new HSDT to determine the buckling, bending, and free vibra-
tion behavior of FGM sandwich rectangular plates via the Navier solution tech-
nique. Nazmul and Devnath [2021] analytically predicted the bending and buckling
response of non-local Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams defined by different gradation
functions. Sayyad and Ghugal [2020] implemented a unified HSDT for the buckling
analysis of FGM sandwich plates with a hard and a soft core. Further, Singh and
Harsha [2020] performed buckling and vibration analysis of Pasternak-supported
sigmoid FGM sandwich plate via Galerkin–Vlasov’s method under porous medium.
Selmi [2019] examined the post-buckling behavior of FG beams under axial loading
condition by employing various beam theories. Barati et al. [2016] used a refined
four-variable plate theory to investigate the buckling response of FGM piezoelectric
plates subjected to a porous elastic foundation medium. Nam et al. [2019] pre-
sented post-buckling response of FGM plates under porous medium and a thermo-
mechanical environment. Osofero et al. [2016] examined an analytical solution for
the buckling and vibration response of FGM sandwich beams via quasi-3D theo-
ries. Shukla and Singh [2020] employed a meshfree method to calculate the buckling
response of rectangular laminated composite plate under thermal and mechanical
loading. Adhikari et al. [2020] employed the buckling behavior of FGM sandwich
plate with various layer arrangement combinations and used two different varieties
of porosity distribution. Bekhadda et al. [2019] presented the static buckling and free
vibration characteristics of FGM plates using a refined HSDT. Radwan [2019] ana-
lyzed nonlinear mechanical buckling and hygrothermal behavior of FGM sandwich
plate via hyperbolic HSDT model. Pydah and Sabale [2018] accurately predicted
the closed form exact solution for thick FG circular beams subjected to bidirec-
tional loading. Dey et al. [2019] performed the stability analysis and buckling load
calculation on soft core sandwich plates. Shahmohammadi et al. [2020] examined
the stability behaviors of laminated composite shells and laminated FGM sandwich
shells via finite element method and isogeometric analysis to solve the eigenvalue
buckling problem.
The novelty of this paper includes a new NTHSDT for buckling response of
porous FGM sandwich plate resting on the foundation. In this regard, assessment
of five variable HSDTs with the present new NTHSDT model are formulate. The
elastic foundation effect is more realistic in practical problems and hence investi-
gation of porous FGM sandwich plate becomes important. TSRBF-based meshfree
method with strong form solution, which is the real meshfree method, is employed to
discretized GDEs. The effects of various parameters such as grading index, porosity
distribution, porosity index, sandwich schemes, aspect ratio, side-to-length thick-
ness ratio, and foundation stiffness on the buckling response of elastically supported
porous FGM plates are investigated.

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

2. Formulation of the Problem

2.1. Sandwich plate description
The porous rectangular sandwich plate geometry consists of FGM skins (top and
bottom layers) and a soft ceramic core resting on an elastic foundation, as depicted
in Fig. 1.
The Cartesian coordinate system is established to represent and estimate the
plate deformations of a sandwich plate with length a, width b and thickness h
referenced at mid-plane.

2.2. Material properties

As a result of gradation in the volume fraction, the effective material properties
(i.e., Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus) alter in the thickness direction (z) of

(a) (b)

(c)
Fig. 1. (a) Porous FGM sandwich plate geometry (b) Skin face of porous FGM plate. (c) Different
types of porosity distribution.

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FGM rectangular sandwich plate as given by power law

 n
(1) z − h1
V (z) = h1 < z < h2 ,
h2 − h1
V (2) (z) = 1 h2 < z < h3 , (1)
 n
(3) z − h4
V (z) = h3 < z < h4 ,
h3 − h4
where V (n) is the volume fraction of the nth layer, and n is the grading index.
The porosity distribution in the FGM sandwich plate is implemented using the
modified power law in the Voigt Model, and hence the effective material properties
for various porosity distributions in the three layers are modeled as follows:
(a) Uniform porosity distribution (PD-1): The porosities are distributed uni-
formly throughout the PFGM sandwich plate, and the effective material prop-
erties for PD-1 are obtained by modifying power law and can be represented as
[Kiran and Kattimani, 2018]
P
P P (1) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (1) (z) + P Pm − (P Pc + P Pm ),
2
P P (2) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (2) (z) + P Pm , (2)
P
P P (3) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (3) (z) + P Pm − (P Pc + P Pm ).
2
(b) O-shaped porosity distribution (PD-2): The porosities are distributed O-
shaped centralized throughout the PFGM sandwich plate, and the effective
material properties for PD-2 are obtained by modifying power law and can be
represented as [Kiran and Kattimani, 2018]
 
P |2z − h1 − h2 |
P P (1) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (1) (z) + P Pm − 1− ,
2 h2 − h1

P P (2) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (2) (z) + P Pm , (3)

 
P |2z − h4 − h3 |
P P (3) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (3) (z) + P Pm − 1− .
2 h3 − h4
(c) X-shaped porosity distribution (PD-3): The porosities are distributed X-
shaped throughout the PFGM plate, and the effective material properties for
PD-3 are obtained by modifying power law and can be represented as [Kiran
and Kattimani, 2018]
 
P |2z − h1 − h2 |
P P (1) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (1) (z) + P Pm − ,
2 h2 − h1

P P (2) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (2) (z) + P Pm , (4)

 
P |2z − h4 − h3 |
P P (3) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (3) (z) + P Pm − .
2 h3 − h4

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

(d) V-shaped porosity distribution (PD-4): The porosities are distributed V-

shaped throughout the PFGM sandwich plate, and the effective material prop-
erties for PD-4 are obtained by modifying power law and can be represented as
[Kiran and Kattimani, 2018]
 
P |2z − h1 − h2 |
P P (1) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (1) (z) + P Pm − 1+ ,
2 h2 − h1
P P (2) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (2) (z) + P Pm , (5)
 
P |2z − h4 − h3 |
P P (3) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (3) (z) + P Pm − 1+ .
2 h3 − h4

(e) Logarithmic porosity distribution (PD-5): The porosities are distributed

logarithmically throughout the PFGM sandwich plate, and the effective mate-
rial properties for PD-5 are obtained by modifying power law and can be rep-
resented as [Zhao et al., 2018]

P P (1) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (1) (z) + P Pm

   
P |2z − h1 − h2 |
− log 1 + (P Pc + P Pm ) 1 − ,
2 h2 − h1
P P (2) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (2) (z) + P Pm ,
P P (3) (z) = (P Pc − P Pm )V (3) (z) + P Pm
   
P |2z − h4 − h3 |
− log 1 + (P Pc + P Pm ) 1 − , (6)
2 h3 − h4

where P Pc and P Pm are the effective material properties of ceramic and metal,
respectively. P is the porosity index, PD-1, PD-2, PD-3, PD-4, and PD-5 are
the five different types of porosity distribution.

2.3. Displacement fields

The displacement field in the framework of HSDT model for the porous FGM sand-
wich plate is characterized as

∂w0 (x, y)
u = u0 (x, y) − z + gi (z)φx (x, y),
∂x
∂w0 (x, y) (7)
v = v0 (x, y) − z + gi (z)φy (x, y),
∂y
w = w0 (x, y),

where u0 , v0 , w0 , φx and φy are the five unknown variables, and gi (z) is generalized
transverse shear strain function. The directional displacements u0 , v0 , w0 denote the

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Table 1. List of higher-order transverse shear functions.

Sr. No. gi (z) Abbreviation Authors

h tan( πz )
1 π
2h
−z NTHSDT Proposed theory
2 sin( πz
h
) HT-1 Arya et al. [2002]
4z 3
3 (z − 3h 2) HT-2 Reddy [1984]
4 sin( πz
h
) + π
( 2h ) HT-3 Mantari et al. [2011]
z h2 z2
5 (
2 4
− 3
) HT-4 Ambartsumian [1958]
5z 4z 2
6 4
(1 − 3h2
) HT-5 Reissner [1975]
7z 3 5
7 8
− 2z
h2
+ 2z
h4
HT-6 Nguyen-Xuan et al. [2013]
17 3 22 5
8 [z − 10h 2 z + 25h4 z ] HT-7 Nguyen et al. [2016]
4 6 7
9 [z − 20h2 z 3 + 10h z 5 − 138
87 169
5h
z ] HT-8 Nguyen et al. [2016]
−1 πz
10 tan [sin( h )] HT-9 Thai et al. [2014b]
11 h tan−1 (2z/h) − z HT-10 Thai et al. [2014a]
11 3 52
12 [z − 5h2
z + 25h4
z5] HT-11 Nguyen et al. [2016]
z )2
−2( h
13 z×e HT-12 Karama et al. [2003]
14 sinh [sin( πz
−1
h
)] HT-13 Thai et al. [2014b]
15 sinh−1 ( rz
h
) − z √2r HT-14 Grover et al. [2013b]
h r 2 +4
r=3
16z 3
16 cot−1 ( h
z
)− 15h3
HT-15 Nguyen et al. [2015]
1 πz
17 sin( πz
h
) × e 2 cos( h ) + πz2h
HT-16 Mantari et al. [2012b]
18 cot−1 ( rh
z
) − z 4r
h(4r 2 +1)
HT-17 Grover et al. [2013c]
r = 0.46
16rz 3
19 h tan−1 ( rz
h
)− 3h2 (r 2 +4)
HT-18 Nguyen et al. [2014]
r=1
20 tan(mz) − mz sec2 ( mh
2
) m = 1/5, HT-19 Mantari et al. [2012a]
π
m = 2h

initial neutral plane displacements parallel to (x, y, z) axes φx and φy represent

the rotation of yz and xz planes due to shear. The shape function denoted by gi (z)
dictates the transverse shear stress distribution through the plate thickness, and
the transverse shear strain functions are listed in Table 1. The function is chosen
so that it accomplishes the conditions of continuity and differentiability given as
 h/2
f (z)dz = 0, and f  (±h/2) = 0. (7.1)
−h/2

These conditions are fundamental for a transverse shear deformation function

to wipe out the necessity of the shear correction factor.

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

2.4. Strain–displacement relations

The strain–displacement relationship is formulated in the displacement form and
calculated as
∂u ∂u0 ∂ 2 w0 ∂φx
εxx = = −z 2
+ g(z) , (8)
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
∂v ∂v0 ∂ 2 w0 ∂φy
εyy = = −z + g(z) , (9)
∂y ∂y ∂y 2 ∂y
∂u ∂v ∂u0 ∂v0 ∂ 2 w0 ∂φx ∂φy
γxy = + = + − 2z + g(z) + g(z) , (10)
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂x∂y ∂y ∂x
∂v ∂w ∂g(z)
γyz = + = φy , (11)
∂z ∂y ∂z
∂u ∂w ∂g(z)
γzx = + = φx . (12)
∂z ∂x ∂z

2.5. Constitutive stress–strain equations

The constitutive stress resultants by adopting generalized Hooke’s law for porous
FGM sandwich plate are written as
⎧ ⎫ ⎡ ⎤⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎪ σxx ⎪
⎪ Q̄11 Q̄12 0 0 0 ⎪ ⎪εxx ⎪⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎢
⎪ ⎥⎪⎪ ⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
σyy ⎪ ⎢Q̄12 Q̄22 0 ⎥⎪ ⎪ εyy ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎪
⎬ ⎢
0 0 ⎪
⎥⎨ ⎪ ⎬
⎢ ⎥
σxy = ⎢ 0 0 Q̄66 0 0 ⎥ γxy , (13)
⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎢
⎪ ⎥⎪⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
σyz ⎪ ⎢ ⎥
0 ⎦⎪ ⎪ ⎪
γyz ⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪ ⎣ 0 0 0 Q̄44 ⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎭ ⎪
⎩ ⎪ ⎭
σzx 0 0 0 0 Q̄55 γzx
where Q̄i,j is transformed into a reduced stiffness matrix represented as
E vE E
Q̄11 = Q̄22 = , Q̄12 = , Q̄44 = Q̄55 = Q̄66 = . (14)
(1 − v 2 ) (1 − v 2 ) 2(1 + v)

2.6. Governing differential equations

The GDES for porous FGM sandwich plate are derived in accordance with Hamil-
ton’s principle, and it can be defined as
 t2
δ(U + Uf − V )dt = 0. (15)
t1

The strain energy (U ) of the porous FGM sandwich plate can be defined by
 h 
1 2
U= (σxx εxx + σyy εyy + σxy γxy + σyz γyz + σxz γxz )dzdA. (16)
2 − h2 A

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The potential energy (V ) due to the in-plane mechanical loading of the porous
FGM sandwich plate can be defined by

   2  2 
1 ∂w ∂w
V = Nxb + Nyb dA. (17)
2 A ∂x ∂y

The strain energy of the elastic foundation (Uf ) of the porous FGM sandwich
plate can be written as
  2  2  
1 2 ∂w ∂w
Uf = kw(w ) − ks + dA . (18)
2 A ∂x ∂y

By substituting U , Uf , and V in Hamilton’s principle statement (Eq. (15)) and

collecting the coefficients of δu0 , δv0 , δw0 , δφx , and δφy , the GDEs can be given as

∂Nxx ∂Nxy
δu0 : + = 0, (19)
∂x ∂y
∂Nxy ∂Nyy
δv0 : + = 0, (20)
∂x ∂y
∂ 2 Mxx ∂ 2 Myy ∂ 2 Mxy
δw0 : + + 2 + Kw w0
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂x∂y
 2 
∂ w0 ∂ 2 w0 2
b ∂ w
2
b ∂ w
− Ks + = N xx + N yy , (21)
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂x2 ∂2
f f
∂Mxx ∂Mxy
δφx : + − Qfx = 0, (22)
∂x ∂y
f f
∂Mxy ∂Myy
δφy : + − Qfy = 0, (23)
∂x ∂y

b b
where Nxx and Nyy are the resultant in-plane forces applied on FGM sandwich plate
b b
and depicted in Fig. 2. For uniaxial loading, put Nxx = 1, Nyy = 0 and for biaxial
b b
loading, put Nxx = 1, Nyy = 1 in Eq. (21). Ks and Kw are the elastic constant
parameter.
The resultant forces and the moment resultants are given by

 +h/2
Nij , Mij , Mijf = (σij , zσij , f (z)σij )dz, (24)
−h/2
 +h/2  
∂f (z)
Qfx , Qfy = (σxz , σyz ) dz. (25)
−h/2 ∂z

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

2.7. Boundary conditions

For a simply supported (SS) porous FGM sandwich plate, the boundary conditions
can be set up as

x = 0, a : Nxx = 0, v0 = 0, w0 = 0, Mxx = 0, φy = 0,
(26)
y = 0, b : u0 = 0, Nyy = 0, w0 = 0, φx = 0, Myy = 0.

3. Solution Procedure
In the current analysis, a thin plate spline radial basis function (TSRBF)-based
meshfree method is utilized to discretize the governing differential equations.
TSRBF is represented as

Thin Plate Spline, g = log(r)r2k , k = 5.2, (27)


x−x y−y
where r = X − Xj  = ( a j )2 + ( b j )2 and k is the shape parameter.
A 2D rectangular FGM sandwich plate exposed to compressive in-plane forces
and shear distributed forces is shown in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b).
The unknown field variables u0 , v0 , w0 , φ0 , φy showing in GDEs can be interpo-
lated in the form of the radial distance between nodes using the given formulation
N

u0 (x, y) = αuj 0 g(X − Xj , c), (28)
j=1

N

v0 (x, y) = αvj 0 g(X − Xj , c), (29)
j=1

Fig. 2. An arbitrary 2D domain with uniform scattered point under. (a) Uniaxial Loading (b)
Biaxial Loading.

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N

w0 (x, y) = αw
j g(X − Xj , c),
0
(30)
j=1

N

φx (x, y) = αϕ
j g(X − Xj , c),
x
(31)
i=1

N
 ϕ
φy (x, y) = αj y g(X − Xj , c). (32)
i=1
The GDES are discretized and finally defined in a compact matrix form as
([[K] + [K]F ] − λ[KG ]){δ} = 0. (33)
[K] + [K]F is the plate’s stiffness matrix, and the [KG ] is the stiffness matrix due
to the elastic foundation where
{δ} = [αu0 αv0 αw0 αφx αφy ]T , (34)
⎡ l l l
[K1u ](N I,N ) [K1v ](N I,N ) [K1w ](N I,N )
⎢[K l ] l l
⎢ 2u (N I,N ) [K2v ](N I,N ) [K2w ](N I,N )
⎢ l
[K] = ⎢ l
⎢[K3u ](N I,N ) [K3v ](N I,N )
l
[K3w ](N I,N )
⎢ l l l
⎣[K4u ](N I,N ) [K4v ](N I,N ) [K4w ](N I,N )
l l l
[K5u ](N I,N ) [K5v ](N I,N ) [K5w ](N I,N )
⎤
l l
[K1φ ]
x (N I,N )
[K1φ ]
y (N I,N )
⎥
l
[K2φ ]
x (N I,N )
l
[K2φ ] ⎥
y (N I,N ) ⎥
l l ⎥
[K3φ ]
x (N I,N )
[K3φy ](N I,N ) ⎥ , (35)
⎥
l
[K4φ ] l
[K4φ ] ⎥
x (N I,N ) y (N I,N ) ⎦
l l
[K5φx ](N I,N ) [K5φ ]
y (N I,N ) (5×N I,5×N )
⎡ ⎤
[0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
⎢ ⎥
⎢[0] [0] [0] [0] [0]⎥
⎢   2  ⎥
⎢ ∂ w0 ∂ 2 w0 ⎥
[K]F = ⎢
⎢ [0] [0] K w
w 0 − K s + [0] [0]⎥
⎥ , (36)
⎢ ∂x2 ∂y 2 ⎥
⎢[0] [0] [0] [0]⎥
⎣ [0] ⎦
[0] [0] [0] [0] [0] (5×N I,5×N )
⎡ ⎤
[0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
⎢ ⎥
⎢[0] [0] [0] [0] [0]⎥
⎢   ⎥
⎢ 2 2 ⎥
[K]G = ⎢ b ∂
[0] [0]⎥
w b ∂ w
⎢[0] [0] Nxx + N yy ⎥ . (37)
⎢ ∂x2 ∂y 2 ⎥
⎢[0] [0] [0]⎥
⎣ [0] [0] ⎦
[0] [0] [0] [0] [0] (5×N I,5×N )

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

4. Result and Discussions

The approach proposed here is illustrated by presenting numerous examples to
establish the effectiveness of the proposed NTHSDT for buckling analysis of elas-
tically supported porous FGM sandwich plate under uniaxial and biaxial loading
conditions. The governing equations are discretized and solved by generating a com-
puter program on MATLAB [2019a]. The FGM sandwich plate comprises FGM face
sheets, and a soft ceramic layer sandwiched between them. The material properties
of skin face FGM used are listed in Table 2. In the present study, five types of
configurations of FGM sandwich plate are given in Table 3. The key parameters are
normalized as
a2 ks × a4 kw × a4
λ̄ = λ Ks = and Kw = ,
100h3 E0 h3 E0 h3
where the standard value is considered as E0 = 1 GPa.
The first example is performed for the convergence study of non-dimensional
buckling load (λ̄) for FGM1 sandwich plate (a/h = 10, a = b, Type2, P = 0,

Table 2. Material properties of FGM sandwich plate.

FGM plate combinations Properties

E (GPa) ρ (kg/m3 ) ν
FGM1 Metal (Al) 70 2702 0.3
Ceramic (Al2 O3 ) 380 3800 0.3
FGM2 Metal (Al) 70 2702 0.3
Ceramic (ZrO2 ) 151 3000 0.3

Table 3. Various types of layer configurations in a sandwich plate.

Thickness of plate Scheme

Type1 (1–0–1) Type2 (2–1–2) Type3 (1–1–1) Type4 (2–2–1) Type5 (1–2–1)
h1 −h/2 −h/2 −h/2 −h/2 −h/2
h2 0 −h/10 −h/6 −h/10 −h/4
h3 0 h/10 h/6 3h/10 h/4
h4 h/2 h/2 h/2 h/2 h/2

Table 4. Convergence study of the λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to biaxial com-
pressive load.

(n) No. of nodes

11 × 11 12 × 12 13 × 13 14 × 14 15 × 15 16 × 16 [Meksi et al., 2019]
0 6.6288 6.5617 6.5275 6.5163 6.5111 6.5085 6.5118
0.5 4.0244 3.9970 3.9794 3.9749 3.9725 3.9715 3.9721
1 2.9510 2.9358 2.9242 2.9218 2.9203 2.9198 2.9196
5 1.5300 1.5257 1.5208 1.5203 1.5198 1.5197 1.5185
10 1.3806 1.3767 1.3724 1.3719 1.3715 1.3714 1.3699

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R. Kumar et al.

Kw = 0, Ks = 0), which is shown in Table 4. The results derived by NTHSDT are

also verified against analytical results reported by Meksi et al. [2019]. The obtained
results by NTHSDT are found to give a good prediction and agreement with Meksi
et al. [2019] after 14 × 14 nodes. In 15 × 15 nodes, the convergence rate % is less
than 1%. So, 15 × 15 nodes are considered throughout the study.
The second example deals with the proposed NTHSDT accuracy, alongside the
results found in the literature study. Tables 5 and 6 report the comparison study
of FGM1 sandwich plate (a/h = 10, a/b = 1, P = 0, Kw = 0, Ks = 0) under
uniaxial and biaxial compressive load, respectively. Tables 5 and 6 show that the
λ̄ calculated by NTHSDT and the current meshfree approach is accurate and in
excellent agreement with the literature. It is also noticed that an increase in the
grading index decreases the λ̄.
Example 3 shows the accuracy and efficacy of the proposed NTHSDT against
other HDSTs reported in the literature for the λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate (a/h = 10,
a/b = 1, n = 0.5, P = 0, Kw = 0, Ks = 0) subjected to uniaxial compressive load.
In Table 7, the NTHSDT is checked against the analytical result presented by Meksi
et al. [2019] and the other five variable HSDTs are investigated by the same method
to determine their accuracy and applicability. It can be observed that the NTHSDT

Table 5. The λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to uniaxial compressive load.

“n” Theory Scheme

Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4 Type5
0 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 13.0055 13.0055 13.0055 13.0055 13.0055
[Zenkour, 2005b] 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045
[Thai et al. 2014c] 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045 13.0045
[Meksi et al., 2019] 13.0236 13.0236 13.0236 13.0236 13.0236
Present (NTHSDT) 13.0221 13.0221 13.0221 13.0221 13.0221
0.5 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 7.3638 7.9405 8.4365 8.8103 9.2176
SSDT [Zenkour, 2005b] 7.3657 7.942 8.4371 8.8104 9.2167
[Thai et al. 2014c] 7.3634 7.9403 8.4361 8.8095 9.2162
[Meksi et al., 2019] 7.3664 7.9442 8.4423 8.8182 9.2277
Present (NTHSDT) 7.3676 7.9450 8.4422 8.8172 9.2256
1 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 5.1663 5.8394 6.4645 6.9495 7.5072
[Zenkour, 2005b] 5.1685 5.8412 6.4654 6.9498 7.5063
[Thai et al. 2014c] 5.1648 5.8387 6.4641 6.9485 7.5056
[Meksi et al., 2019] 5.1651 5.8392 6.4664 6.9536 7.5138
Present (NTHSDT) 5.1670 5.8406 6.4668 6.9531 7.5120
5 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 2.6568 3.0414 3.5787 4.1116 4.7346
[Zenkour, 2005b] 2.6601 3.0441 3.5806 4.1129 4.7349
[Thai et al. 2014c] 2.6415 3.0282 3.571 4.1024 4.7305
[Meksi et al., 2019] 2.6518 3.0369 3.5756 4.1103 4.7351
Present (NTHSDT) 2.6554 3.0396 3.5774 4.1112 4.7349
10 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 2.4857 2.745 3.1937 3.7069 4.2796
[Zenkour, 2005b] 2.4893 2.7484 3.1946 3.1457 4.3818
[Thai et al. 2014c] 2.4666 2.7223 3.1795 3.6901 4.2728
[Meksi et al., 2019] 2.4808 2.7397 3.1898 3.7048 4.2789
Present (NTHSDT) 2.4847 2.7430 3.1920 3.7061 4.2793

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

Table 6. The λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to biaxial compressive load.

n Theory Scheme
Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4 Type5
0 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 6.5028 6.5028 6.5028 6.5028 6.5028
[Zenkour, 2005b] 6.503 6.503 6.503 6.503 6.503
[Thai et al. 2014c] 6.5022 6.5022 6.5022 6.5022 6.5022
[Meksi et al., 2019] 6.5118 6.5118 6.5118 6.5118 6.5118
Present (NTHSDT) 6.5111 6.5111 6.5111 6.5111 6.5111
0.5 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 3.6819 3.9702 4.2182 4.4051 4.6088
[Zenkour, 2005b] 3.6828 3.971 4.2186 4.4052 4.6084
[Thai et al. 2014c] 3.6817 3.9702 4.2181 4.4047 4.6081
[Meksi et al., 2019] 3.6832 3.9721 4.2212 4.4091 4.6138
Present (NTHSDT) 3.6838 3.9725 4.2211 4.4086 4.6128
1 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 2.5832 2.9197 3.2323 3.4748 3.7536
[Zenkour, 2005b] 2.5842 2.9206 3.2327 3.4749 3.7531
[Thai et al. 2014c] 2.5824 2.9193 3.232 3.4742 3.7528
[Meksi et al., 2019] 2.5826 2.9196 3.2332 3.4768 3.7569
Present (NTHSDT) 2.5835 2.9203 3.2334 3.4766 3.7560
5 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 1.3284 1.5207 1.7894 2.0558 2.3673
[Zenkour, 2005b] 1.33 1.522 1.7903 2.0564 2.3674
[Thai et al. 2014c] 1.3208 1.5141 1.7855 2.0512 2.3652
[Meksi et al., 2019] 1.3259 1.5185 1.7878 2.0551 2.3676
Present (NTHSDT) 1.3277 1.5198 1.7887 2.0556 2.3675
10 [El Meiche et al., 2011] 1.2429 1.3725 1.5969 1.8534 2.1398
[Zenkour, 2005b] 1.2448 1.3742 1.5973 1.5729 2.1909
[Thai et al. 2014c] 1.2333 1.3612 1.5897 1.845 2.1364
[Meksi et al., 2019] 1.2404 1.3699 1.5949 1.8524 2.1395
Present (NTHSDT) 1.2424 1.3715 1.5960 1.8531 2.1397

Table 7. The comparison study of the λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to

uniaxial compressive load for various HSDTs.

Theory Scheme
Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4 Type5 Avg. diff %
[Meksi et al., 2019] 7.3664 7.9442 8.4423 8.8182 9.2277 —
NTHSDT 7.3676 7.9450 8.4422 8.8172 9.2256 0.0125
HT-1 7.3694 7.9461 8.4418 8.8155 9.2223 0.0320
HT-2 7.3681 7.9449 8.4410 8.8151 9.2223 0.0284
HT-3 7.3236 7.8952 8.3823 8.8153 9.1409 0.5763
HT-4 7.3896 7.7686 7.9663 8.2231 7.8272 6.0180
HT-5 7.3681 7.9450 8.4410 8.8150 9.2223 0.0285
HT-6 7.3755 7.9520 8.4470 8.8206 9.2265 0.0633
HT-7 7.3700 7.9466 8.4422 8.8159 9.2226 0.0324
HT-8 7.4738 8.0593 8.5674 8.9574 9.3748 1.5122
HT-9 7.5793 8.1750 8.6940 9.0924 9.5199 3.0108
HT-10 7.3843 7.9620 8.4594 8.8367 9.2448 0.2131
HT-11 7.3745 7.9509 8.4460 8.8196 9.2256 0.0554
HT-12 7.3709 7.9474 8.4428 8.8165 9.2229 0.0359
HT-13 7.4877 8.0751 8.5857 8.9776 9.3972 1.7275
HT-14 7.4563 8.0407 8.5475 8.9360 9.3523 1.2737
HT-15 7.3683 7.9451 8.4411 8.8151 9.2222 0.0293
HT-16 7.3874 7.9649 8.4618 8.8388 9.2463 0.2423
HT-17 7.3983 7.9772 8.4766 8.8565 9.2663 0.4215
HT-18 7.3683 7.9451 8.4411 8.8151 9.2222 0.0293
HT-19 7.4076 7.9884 8.4894 8.8683 9.2801 0.5616

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R. Kumar et al.

is near to the 2D HSDT analytical result reported by Meksi et al. [2019] and predicts
low average diff % as compared to other existing theories.

4.1. Parametric study

This section presents numerous examples showing the influence of porosity distribu-
tion, porosity index, grading index, aspect ratio, foundation stiffness, and loading
conditions on porous FGM sandwich plates with their different schemes.
Table 8 shows the effect of porosity distribution with different porosity index
on the λ̄ of a porous FGM2 sandwich plate (a/h = 10, a/b = 1, n = 1, Kw = 0,
Ks = 0) subjected to uniaxial compressive load with different schemes. From the
table, it can be inferred that the λ̄ decreases by increasing the porosity index for
all the porosity distribution of the FGM skins because by increasing the porosity
index, the stiffness of the plates becomes weaker. Furthermore, the λ̄ increases as
the thickness of the porous skins decreases. It is also noteworthy that the porosity
index effect is more sensitive in porosity distribution PD-4 and least sensitive in
PD-5.

Table 8. Influence of different porosity distribution with different porosity

index on the λ̄ of FGM2 sandwich plate.

Porosity Type Porosity Index (p) Scheme

Type2 Type3 Type4 Type5
FGM 0 3.3090 3.4718 3.6101 3.7427
PD-1 0.05 3.1177 3.2783 3.4119 3.5429
0.1 2.9265 3.0848 3.2135 3.3431
0.15 2.7352 2.8912 3.0152 3.1433
0.2 2.5439 2.6976 2.8168 2.9436
0.25 2.3525 2.5040 2.6183 2.7438
PD-2 0.05 3.2585 3.4196 3.5556 3.6867
0.1 3.2079 3.3673 3.5010 3.6305
0.15 3.1573 3.3149 3.4463 3.5743
0.2 3.1066 3.2624 3.3915 3.5179
0.25 3.0557 3.2098 3.3365 3.4614
PD-3 0.05 3.1681 3.3304 3.4663 3.5988
0.1 3.0271 3.1888 3.3222 3.4548
0.15 2.8859 3.0470 3.1779 3.3106
0.2 2.7444 2.9051 3.0336 3.1663
0.25 2.6028 2.7629 2.8889 3.0218
PD-4 0.05 2.9768 3.1368 3.2679 3.3990
0.1 2.6454 2.8015 2.9245 3.0551
0.15 2.3112 2.4657 2.5823 2.7109
0.2 1.9774 2.1294 2.2377 2.3662
0.25 1.6420 1.7924 1.8944 2.0210
PD-5 0.05 3.2591 3.4203 3.5563 3.6874
0.1 3.2104 3.3698 3.5037 3.6333
0.15 3.1627 3.3205 3.4522 3.5803
0.2 3.1161 3.2723 3.4018 3.5285
0.25 3.0704 3.2250 3.3524 3.4777

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

Fig. 3. Influence of P with different porosity on the λ̄ of FGM2 sandwich plate subjected to
uniaxial and biaxial compressive load.

Figure 3 shows the influence of the different types of porosities with porosity
index on the λ̄ of porous FGM2 sandwich plate (n = 0.5, a/h = 10, a/b = 2, Type2,
Kw = 0, Ks = 0) under uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions. From the figure, it
can be deduced that the buckling load decreases by increasing the porosity index.
Also, the influence of the porosity index on the λ̄ is less in the case of biaxial loading
as compared to the uniaxial loading.
The effect of foundation stiffness on the λ̄ of porous FGM1 sandwich plate
(n = 2, a = b, a/h = 20, P = 0) under uniaxial compression load is shown in Fig. 4.
It can be observed that by increasing the foundation’s stiffness (Kw and Ks ), the
λ̄ increases. The λ̄ is lowest for a Type2 sandwich plate and highest for a Type5
porous FGM sandwich plate. As can be seen, λ̄ is influenced more by Ks than Kw ,
which is evident from the sharp rise in the graph when the Ks stiffness is increased.
Ks offers shear stiffness, which brings about an increase in stiffness of the FGM
plate, whereas Kw offers a series of springs giving just ordinary pressure because of
which increase in stiffness is less than Ks stiffness.
The influence of foundation stiffness on the λ̄ of porous FGM1 sandwich plate
under biaxial compression (n = 0.5, a = 0.5b, a/h = 20, Type5, PD-5) is inves-
tigated in Fig. 5. The increases with an increase in (Kw , Ks ). Also, the λ̄ has a
maximum value for the plate without porosity, and the λ̄ decreases by increasing
the porosity index. λ̄ is more sensitive to Ks than Kw , which is evident from the
sharp rise in the graph when the Ks stiffness is increased.

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R. Kumar et al.

Fig. 4. Influence of foundation effect on the λ̄ of FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to uniaxial
compressive load.

Fig. 5. Influence of foundation effect on the λ̄ of porous FGM1 sandwich plate.

The influence of grading index on the λ̄ of a porous rectangular FGM2 sandwich

plate (a = 2b, a/h = 10, P = 0.1, Type3, PD-4) resting on an elastic foundation
with stiffness (Kw , Ks ) is shown in Fig. 6. From the figure, it is deduced that the
λ̄ reduces on increasing the grading index. The effect due to foundation is quite
evident, indicating that the λ̄ is more sensitive to Ks since a sharp rise can be seen
in the graph when Ks increases.
The influence of elastic foundation on the λ̄ for a rectangular FGM1 sandwich
plate (n = 1, a/h = 20, P = 0.2, Type2, PD-3) having different aspect ratios is
tabulated in Table 9. From the table, it can be inferred that the λ̄ increases with a
rise in the aspect ratio of the plate. The effect due to foundation is quite evident,

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

Fig. 6. Influence of “n” with foundation effect on the λ̄ of FGM2 sandwich plates.

Table 9. Influence of aspect ratio with foundation effect on the λ̄ of rectangular FGM1 sand-
wich plate.

Foundation Aspect Ratio (a/b)

Stiffness (Kw , Ks ) 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
(0,0) 1.4935 2.3846 3.8586 5.9010 8.4943 11.6108 15.2214 19.2927
(10,0) 1.5016 2.3896 3.8620 5.9039 8.4957 11.6118 15.2222 19.2930
(100,0) 1.5745 2.4352 3.8900 5.9221 8.5082 11.6208 15.2290 19.2987
(0,10) 1.5935 2.4846 3.9587 6.0018 8.5942 11.7107 15.3214 19.3925
(0,100) 2.4935 3.3846 4.8587 6.9018 9.4942 12.6107 16.2214 20.2927
(100,100) 2.5745 3.4352 4.8900 6.9221 9.5082 12.6209 16.2290 20.2987

Table 10. Eight modes on λ̄ of porous FGM1 sandwich plate subjected to biaxial
compressive load with different a/h ratio.

Modes Length-to-thickness ratio (a/h)

5 10 20 30 40 50 100
1 2.5734 2.8176 2.8844 2.8968 2.9010 2.9029 2.9072
2 5.4624 6.7131 7.1221 7.2035 7.2324 7.2459 7.2640
3 5.4624 6.7131 7.1221 7.2035 7.2324 7.2459 7.2643
4 7.6077 10.2735 11.2637 11.4687 11.5422 11.5766 11.6227
5 8.7355 12.4638 13.9650 14.2849 14.4004 14.4546 14.5274
6 8.7716 12.4959 13.9834 14.2986 14.4124 14.4656 14.5372
7 10.1623 15.5409 17.9242 18.4490 18.6402 18.7301 18.8511
8 10.1623 15.5409 17.9242 18.4490 18.6402 18.7301 18.8511

indicating that the λ̄ is more sensitive to Ks as a sharp rise can be seen in the graph
when Ks increases.
Table 10 shows the influence of length-to-thickness ratio on λ̄ of different modes
of porous FGM1 sandwich plate (n = 1, P = 0.1, PD-2, Type2 a = b, Kw = 0,
Ks = 0). The increases from thick to thin plate. The effect becomes less pronounced

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R. Kumar et al.

Fig. 7. First six λ̄ modes of FGM1 sandwich plate under uniaxial and biaxial loading.

in thin plates, as can be seen by the change in λ̄ when the a/h ratio surpasses 40.
In Fig. 7, the first six λ̄ modes of FGM1 sandwich plate (n = 0.5, P = 0, Type2,
a/h = 20, a = b) subjected to a uniaxial and biaxial compressive load are presented
via NTHSDT.

5. Conclusion
The new tangent shape function-based higher-order transverse shear deformation
theory has been proposed to investigate the buckling behavior of porous FGM sand-
wich plates subjected to uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions resting on an elastic
foundation. NTHSDT satisfies zero transverse shear stress boundary conditions on
the plate surfaces, thus eliminating the requirement of a shear correction factor,

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Porosity-dependent buckling analysis of elastically supported FGM sandwich plate

and is found to be simple and highly accurate. Based on the results obtained, the
following conclusions are drawn:

• The TSRBF-based collocation method is simple and fast converging within 1%

converging rate.
• The new tangent shape function-based higher-order transverse shear deformation
theory is simple and accurate for predicting buckling load.
• By increasing the grading index, λ̄ decreases for all sandwich schemes.
• By increasing the porosity index, λ̄ decreases. Furthermore, λ̄ increases as the
thickness of the porous skins decreases.
• λ̄ increases by increasing the aspect ratio (a/b) of the sandwich plate.
• By increasing the elastic foundation (Kw , Ks ), λ̄ increases. The effect of Ks is
more sensitive than Kw .
• λ̄ decreases by increasing the length-to-thickness ratio. The effect of a/h becomes
negligible after a/h > 40.
• The porosity index effect is more sensitive in porosity distribution PD-4 and least
sensitive in PD-5.

The results attained from the research will lay down a benchmark for a stan-
dard numerical solution to authenticate other solution methodologies and developed
theories.

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