Buckling analysis of functionally graded plates in thermal environment by using a meshfree method

In material, the pre-stress state caused by temperature variation of the working environment is one of the main reasons which cause buckling in structures. This paper aims to analyse the critical temperature rise to cause buckling in functionally graded material (FGM) under different boundary conditions. Reissner-Mindlin plate theory is employed in this paper with the radial point interpolation method (RPIM). The RPIM has the advantage compared to other meshfree methods in the satisfaction of the Kronecker delta property which allows directly imposing boundary conditions on scattered nodes. Factors affecting to thermal buckling phenomenon are investigated. The accuracy of solutions will be shown by comparing them to reliable results in previous studies