A 3D Discrete Layer-Differential Quadrature Free Vibration of Multi-Layered FG Annular Plates in Thermal Environment

A three-dimensional (3D) discrete layer approach coupled with the differential quadrature method (DQM) is developed for the free vibration analysis of the laminated functionally graded (FG) annular plates subjected to a thermal environment. The formulations are derived based on the elasticity theory, which includes the effects of the initial thermal stresses. After demonstrating the convergence behavior and accuracy of the method, two common types of FG sandwich plates, namely, the sandwich with homogeneous face sheets and FG core and the sandwich with FG face sheets and homogeneous core, are analyzed. The influences of different parameters on the solution are carried out.