Buckling analysis of sandwich plates with functionally graded skins using a new quasi-3D hyperbolic sine shear deformation theory and collocation with radial basis functions

A hyperbolic sine shear deformation theory is used for the linear buckling analysis of functionally graded plates. The theory accounts for through-the-thickness deformations. The buckling governing equations and boundary conditions are derived using Carrera's Unified Formulation and further interpolated by collocation with radial basis functions. The collocation method is truly meshless, allowing a fast and simple discretization of equations in the domain and on the boundary. A numerical investigation has been conducted considering and neglecting the thickness stretching effects on the buckling of sandwich plates with functionally graded skins. Numerical results demonstrate the high accuracy of the present approach. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.