Buckling and postbuckling of functionally graded graphene-reinforced composite laminated plates in thermal environments

Modeling and analysis of the postbuckling behavior of graphene-reinforced composite (GRC) laminated plates are presented in this paper. The GRC plates are in a thermal environment, subjected to uniaxial compression and resting on an elastic foundation. The temperature-dependent material properties of functionally graded graphene-reinforced composites (FG-GRCs) are assumed to be graded in the plate thickness direction with a piece-wise type, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The postbuckling problem of FG-GRC laminated plates is modeled using a higher order shear deformation plate theory and the plate-foundation interaction and thermal effects are taken into consideration. A two-step perturbation technique is employed to determine the buckling loads and the postbuckling equilibrium paths. The compressive buckling and postbuckling behavior of perfect and imperfect, geometrically mid-plane symmetric FG-GRC laminated plates under different sets of thermal environmental conditions is obtained and is also compared with the behavior of uniformly distributed GRC laminated plates. The results show that the buckling loads as well as the postbuckling strength of the GRC laminated plates may be enhanced through piece-wise functionally graded distribution of graphene.