TRANSIENT THERMAL BENDING ANALYSIS OF THIN PLATES OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADIENT MATERIAL BY FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

In this paper, the transient thermal bending stresses in the thin plate made of a new functionally gradient material that consists of ZrO₂ and Ti-6Al-4V are analyzed by finite element method (FEM). The accuracy of this method is examined. The effects of the one-cycle thermal boundary condition of heating and cooling and two kinds of mechanical boundary conditions (simply supported and clamped)on the thermal stresses in the plate are discussed. It is found that large compressive stresses appear on the metal surface (simply supported) during the heating process. On the other hand, large tensile stresses appear on the ceramic surface (simply supported) during the cooling process. These large tensile and compressive stresses increase with the temperature difference on the two surfaces. In addition, compressive stresses throughout the thickness of the plate (simply supported and clamped) are large during the cooling process. It is also found that clamped plates are more suitable for the application environment of high temperature and large temperature difference than simply supported plates.