LAUSR

Abstract This study reports thermal buckling analyses of functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates using an improved mesh-free radial point interpolation method (RPIM). The buckling formulation of FGM sandwich plates is derived from the improved RPIM which employs a new radial basis function enabling the shape functions to be built without any supporting fixing parameters based on the higher-order shear deformation plate theory. Two types of FGM sandwich plates with different composition scheme, i.e. one with FGM skins and homogenous core and the other composed of homogenous skins and FGM core are considered in the analyses. The simulated results by the improved RPIM are compared with the analytical solutions found in the literature for the verification purpose. Detailed parametric studies are then carried out to scrutinize the effects of the volume fraction, plate length-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio, boundary condition and FGM constituents on the critical buckling temperature changes of the FGM sandwich plates under various types of temperature variation through the thickness. Results demonstrate that the improved mesh-free RPIM can effectively predict the thermal buckling behavior of the FGM sandwich plates.