Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120

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Linear and nonlinear vibration analysis of elastically restrained ends

FGM beams with porosities
Nuttawit Wattanasakulpong a,∗ , Variddhi Ungbhakorn b,1
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Nongchok, Bangkok 10530, Thailand
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Linear and nonlinear vibration problems of elastically end restrained beams made of functionally graded
Received 6 September 2013 materials (FGMs) are investigated in this present paper. Due to porosities, possibly occurring inside FGMs
Received in revised form 20 November 2013 during fabrication, it is therefore necessary to consider the vibration behavior of beams having porosities
Accepted 7 December 2013
in this investigation. The rule of mixture is modified to describe and approximate material properties
Available online 12 December 2013
of the functionally graded beams with porosity phases. The differential transformation method (DTM) is
Keywords: employed to solve linear and nonlinear vibration responses of FGM beams with different kinds of elastic
Linear and nonlinear vibration supports. The effects of material property distribution, spring constants and porosity volume fraction on
FGM beam linear and nonlinear frequencies of FGM beams are also presented and discussed in detail.
Porosity © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Elastic boundary condition
DTM

1. Introduction problem of FGM beams, using an analytical method. Simsek [22]

used several beam theories to analyze vibration response of FGM
Functionally graded materials (FGMs), possessing spatially vary- beams supported by different general boundary conditions. An im-
ing properties, have been developed for special components such proved third order shear deformation theory was employed by
as rocket engine components, aerospace structures, turbine blades, Wattanasakulpong et al. [28] to investigate thermal buckling and
etc. The earliest FGMs were introduced by Japanese scientists in thermo-elastic vibration of FGM beams with different immovable
the mid-1980s as ultra-high temperature-resistant materials for boundary conditions. The vibration analysis of FGM beams hav-
aerospace applications. Recently, these materials have found other ing cracks was investigated in Refs. [8,14,32]. Recently the topic
uses in electrical devices, energy transformation, biomedical en- of linear vibration of FGM beams has been reported continuously
gineering, optics, etc. [27]. However, in FGM fabrication, micro using different theories, assumptions and methodologies [18,20,
voids or porosities can occur within the materials during the pro- 26]. The decrease of natural frequencies of the beams is found
cess of sintering. This is because of the large difference in solid- when the volume fraction index of the material composition in-
ification temperatures between material constituents [33]. Wat- creases, for the beams with various types of general boundary
tanasakulpong et al. [29] also gave the discussion on porosities conditions. However, all of previous investigations dealt with FGM
happening inside FGM samples fabricated by a multi-step sequen- beams supported by general boundary conditions. For elastically
tial infiltration technique. Therefore, it is important to take into end restrained beams, it is found mostly in the analysis of isotropic
account the porosity effect when designing FGM structures sub- beams [5,9]. In the study of Sari and Butcher [21], the translational
jected to dynamic loadings. and rotational springs are used to simulate the damaged boundary
Based on the open literature, it is found that many researchers conditions of isotropic beams in order to determine their natu-
have paid their attention on investigating vibration response of ral frequencies and critical loads. To solve the nonlinear vibration
FGM beams in the framework of linear analysis. For example, Ay- of isotropic and laminated composite beams, a number of inves-
dogdu and Taskin [1] provided linear frequencies of simply sup- tigations on this aspect were presented, using different solution
ported FGM beams. Sina et al. [23] employed modified and tradi- methods [11,15,24,25].
tional first order shear deformation theories to deal with vibration In terms of nonlinear vibration analysis of FGM beams, the di-
rect numerical method and Runge–Kutta method were employed
to deal with such a problem [7]. Lai et al. [10] provided an an-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 29883655x3106; fax: +66 29883655.
alytical solution for large amplitude vibration of thin FGM beams
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (N. Wattanasakulpong),
[email protected] (V. Ungbhakorn). based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. According to the analyt-
1
Tel.: +662 2186629; fax: +662 2522889. ical results, it is revealed that the nonlinear frequency ratio of

1270-9638/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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112 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120

FGM beam with simply supported at both ends is higher than the
ratio of the beam with simply supported–clamped ends. Addition-
ally, for different scenarios, Kitipornchai et al. [8] used Timoshenko
beam theory to analyze nonlinear vibration of edge cracked FGM
beams; while, Fallah and Aghdam [2] included the effect of elastic
foundation to study nonlinear vibration behavior of FGM beams.
Increasing nonlinear parameters of the elastic foundation leads to
the increase of frequency and buckling load ratios. In investiga-
tion of Fallah and Aghdam [3], their work was extended to cover
thermal effect on buckling and nonlinear vibration responses of
FGM beams. Obviously, temperature increment affects significantly
nonlinearity of such beams; that is, the nonlinear frequency ra-
tio increases as the increment of temperature. More recently, by
using the variational iteration method (VIM), post-buckling and
nonlinear vibration analyses of FGM beams resting on the nonlin-
ear elastic foundation were solved in the studies of Yaghoobi and
Torabi [30,31]. The large amplitude vibration of FGM beams was
Fig. 1. The geometry of E–E beam made by FGM with porosities.
investigated by means of finite element formulation in the study of
Hemmatnezhad et al. [4]. It is found that the nonlinear frequency
is reduced by the increase of the slenderness ratio. Now, the total volume fraction of the metal and ceramic is:
The differential transformation method (DTM) based on the V m + V c = 1, and the power law of volume fraction of the ceramic
Taylor series expansion is one of the effective mathematical tech- is described as:
niques used to solve differential equation problems. The first use of  n
z 1
the DTM in vibration analysis of isotropic beams was found in the Vc = + (2)
study of Malik and Dang [12]. The DTM was also applied to analyze
h 2
vibration of rotating beams based on Euler–Bernoulli and Timo- Hence, all properties of the imperfect FGM can be written as:
shenko beam theories in the studies of Ozgumus and Kaya [16,17].  n
They also applied DTM to solve the flexural–torsional-coupled vi- z 1 α
P = ( P c − Pm) + + Pm − ( P c + Pm) (3)
bration problem of composite Timoshenko beams [6]. The use of h 2 2
the DTM has continued recently, which can be seen in Refs. [13,
It is noted that the positive real number n (0  n < ∞) is the
19]. However, most of the previous studies employed the DTM to
power law or volume fraction index, and z is the distance from the
solve linear vibration problem of beams only.
mid-plane of the FG beam. The FG beam becomes a fully ceramic
The objective of this paper is to investigate linear and nonlin-
beam when n is set to zero and fully metal for large value of n.
ear vibration problems of FGM beams having porosities. The beams
Thus, the Young’s modulus (E) and material density (ρ ) equa-
are assumed to be supported by elastic boundary conditions. At
tions of the imperfect FGM beam can be expressed as:
the end supports of the beams, damaged or imperfect supports
 n
can be modelled using elastically end restraints which compose of z 1 α
translational and rotational springs. For example, in case of imper- E ( z) = ( E c − E m ) + + Em − (E c + Em ) (4)
h 2 2
fectly clamped condition, this can be simulated by using moderate  n
or hard stiffness of translational and rotational springs. Therefore, z 1 α
ρ (z) = (ρc − ρm ) + + ρm − (ρc + ρm ) (5)
it is necessary to consider vibration behavior of the beams hav- h 2 2
ing elastic boundary conditions. In this paper, the DTM is adopted
However, Poisson’s ratio (ν ) is assumed to be constant. The ma-
to solve linear and nonlinear vibration problems of such beams.
terial properties of a perfect FG beam can be obtained when α is
Several important aspects, i.e., boundary conditions, translational
set to zero.
and rotational spring constants as well as porosity volume frac-
tion, which affect linear and nonlinear frequencies, are taken into
3. The FGM beam vibration analysis
investigation.
Based on the Kirchhoff–Love hypothesis, the displacements of
2. Functionally graded beams with porosities
classical beam theory (CBT) of an arbitrary point along x and z
axes can be expressed as follows:
An FGM beam made by ceramic–metal is considered in this
investigation. The beam has length (L) and thickness (h). The ma- ∂w
u (x, z, t ) = u 0 (x, t ) − z , w (x, z, t ) = w 0 (x, t ) (6)
terial composition at the top surface (z = h/2) is assumed to be ∂x
ceramic-rich and it varies continuously to the metal-rich surface
Here u 0 and w 0 are the displacements at a point in the mid-plane.
at the bottom surface (z = −h/2). In this investigation, the im-
From the displacements in Eq. (6) and the elastic constitutive law,
perfect beam is assumed to have porosities spreading within the
one can obtain the nonlinear strain–displacement relationship (εxx )
beam cross-section due to defect during production. The geometry
and normal stress (σxx ) of the beam as
of the imperfect FGM beam supported by translational and rota-
tional springs at both ends, which is defined as E–E beam, and its
 2
∂ u0 ∂2 w 1 ∂ w
cross-sectional area including porosity phases are shown in Fig. 1. εxx = −z 2 +
∂x ∂x 2 ∂x
Consider an imperfect FGM with a porosity volume fraction,   2 
α (α  1), distributed evenly among the metal and ceramic, our E ( z) ∂ u 0 ∂2 w 1 ∂ w
modified rule of mixture is proposed as:
σxx = − z + (7)
1 − ν2 ∂ x ∂ x2 2 ∂x
   
α α The normal force resultant, N x , and moment resultant, M x , take
P = Pm Vm − + Pc Vc − (1) the form:
2 2
 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120 113

    ∂ u0 1 ∂w 2

Nx
=
A 11 B 11 ∂x + 2 ( ∂x ) (8)
Table 1
2 Transformation rules of DTM for the governing equation.
Mx B 11 D 11 − ∂∂ xw2
Original functions Transformed functions
where f (x) = g (x) + h(x) F [r ] = G [r ] + H [r ]
f (x) = ag (x) F [r ] = aG [r ]
h/2 f (x) =
k
d g ( x)
F [r ] = (r + 1)(r + 2) . . . (r + k)G [r + k]
E ( z) dxk
( A 11 , B 11 , D 11 ) = 1, z, z2 dz (9)
[1 − ν 2]
−h/2 4. Application of DTM to linear and nonlinear vibration problems

The extensional stiffness ( A 11 ), extensional–bending coupling

The principle of DTM is to transform the differential equa-
stiffness (B 11 ) and bending stiffness (D 11 ) of FGM beam having
tions of governing and boundary equations into a set of algebraic
porosities can be written in the function of the volume faction in-
equations, using Taylor series expansion with transformation rules.
dex (n) as:
The details of DTM have been described elsewhere [6,12,13,16,17].
  Therefore, the elaborate information of this aspect is not attempted
(E c − Em )
h ( E c + E m )α
A 11 = + E m − (10a) here. Applying the DTM to vibration problem, it is necessary to use
1 − ν2 (n + 1) 2 the transformation rules in Table 1 for the governing equation and
 
( E c − E m )h2 n in Table 2 for the boundary conditions.
B 11 = (10b) The general function, f (x), in Tables 1 and 2 is considered as
1 − ν2 2(n + 1)(n + 2)
  the transverse displacement W (x).
h3 ( E c − E m )(n2 + n + 2) Em ( E c + E m )α
D 11 = + −
1 − ν 2 4(n + 1)(n + 2)(n + 3) 12 24 4.1. Linear vibration of FGM beams

(10c)
To solve linear vibration analysis of FGM beams with elasti-
The equations of motion derived from Hamilton’s principle can cally end restraints, the nonlinear term of the axial stretching force
be expressed as follows: in Eq. (14) is omitted. Apply the transformation rules of DTM in
Table 1 to the governing differential equation, Eq. (14), one can
∂ Nx ∂ 2u obtain the following recurrence equation:
δu0 : = I0 2 (11a)
∂x ∂t I 0 ω2
  W [r + 4] = W [r ] (17)
−∂ M x
2
∂ ∂w ∂2 w λ(r + 1)(r + 2)(r + 3)(r + 4)
δ w: − Nx + I0 2 = 0 (11b)
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂t B2
where λ = ( D 11 − A11 ).
11
By assuming that the beam is axially immovable and the axial Observing that Eq. (17) is independent from boundary condi-
inertia in Eq. (11) is neglected, the equations of motion of (11) tions; therefore, the displacement function of Eq. (17) must be
can be further reduced into the following form [15] used to satisfy the corresponding boundary equations. Consider
  the FGM beam as shown in Fig. 1, the boundary equations at the
B 211 ∂4 w ∂2 w ∂2 w left end associated with translational and rotational springs can be
D 11 − 4
− N x0 2 + I 0 2 = 0 (12)
A 11 ∂x ∂x ∂t written as

Here N x0 is the axial stretching force developed by the large am- d3 W kT L

+ W =0
plitude vibration which can be written as dx3 λ
d2 W k R L dW
L   2  − =0 (18)
A 11 1 ∂w B 11 ∂ 2 w dx2 λ dx
N x0 = − dx (13)
L 2 ∂x A 11 ∂ x2 Here k T L and k R L are the translational and rotational spring con-
0
stants at the left end respectively. These spring constants can be
β D
Substituting harmonic vibration mode, w = W (x)e i ωt , into obtained from the following equations k T L = TLL3 0 and k R L =
β RL 0D
Eq. (12) leads to a time independent governing equation as fol- L
, where β T L and β R L are the given parameters of spring con-
lows: stant factors corresponding to each type of springs, and D 0 is D 11
  of perfect isotropic beam made of metal. Let the non-zero values of
B 211 ∂4W ∂2W deflection and slope at x = 0 be C 0 and C 1 respectively. Using Ta-
D 11 − − N̄ x0 2 − I 0 ω2 W = 0 (14)
A 11 ∂x4 ∂x ble 2 to apply the transformation rules of DTM for these non-zero
quantities at x = 0, one obtains
and
dW (x)
L   2  W [0] = W (x) = C 0 , W [1] = = C1 (19)
A 11 1 ∂W B 11 ∂ W 2 dx
N̄ x0 = − dx (15) The expressions for other non-zero values of bending moment
L 2 ∂x A 11 ∂ x2
0 and shear force at x = 0 can be written as
h /2 kR L C1
Here ω is a natural frequency and I 0 = −h/2 ρ ( z) dz is the moment W [2] =
of inertia of the beam having porosities which can be expressed in 2λ
term of the volume faction index as: kT L C 0
W [3] = − (20)
  6λ
(ρc − ρm ) (ρc + ρm )α
I0 = h + ρm − (16) To find W [r ] for all values of r, the components in Eqs. (19)–
(n + 1) 2 (20) are substituted into the recurrence equation of (17).
114 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120

Table 2
Transformation rules of DTM for the boundary conditions.

x=0 x=L
Original B.C. Transformed B.C. Original B.C. Transformed B.C.
∞
f (0) = 0 F [0] = 0 f (L) = 0 r =0 L (r ) F [r ] = 0
df (0) df ( L ) ∞ (r −1) F [r ] = 0
dx
=0 F [1] = 0 dx
=0 r =0 rL
d2 f (0) d2 f ( L ) ∞ (r −2) F [r ] = 0
dx2
=0 F [2] = 0 dx2
=0 r =0 r (r − 1) L
d3 f (0) d3 f ( L ) ∞ (r −3) F [r ] = 0
dx3
=0 F [3] = 0 dx3
=0 r =0 r (r − 1)(r − 2) L

∞ ∞
ω2r I 0r C 0 L (4r −2) ω2r I 0r L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r
W [4r ] = , r = 0, 1, 2, 3 . . . (21a) p 22 = − kT R
λr (4r )! λr (4r − 2)! λ(r +1) (4r + 1)!
r =1 r =0
2r r
ω I0C1 ∞ ∞
W [4r + 1] = , r = 0, 1, 2, 3 . . . (21b) L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r L (4r +2) ω2r I 0r
λr (4r + 1)! + kRL − kT R k R L
λ(r +1) (4r − 1)! λ(r +2) (4r + 2)!
ω2r I 0r k R L C 1 r =1 r =0
W [4r + 2] = (r +1) , r = 0, 1 , 2 , 3 . . . (21c) Setting the determinant of the coefficient matrix of Eq. (24) to
λ (4r + 2)!
zero with finite number of terms from r to R, one obtains the
ω2r I r k T L C 0 following frequency equation:
W [4r + 3] = − (r +1) 0 , r = 0, 1 , 2 , 3 . . . (21d)
λ (4r + 3)!   
L (4r −2) ω2r I 0r L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r
R
At x = L, the boundary equations are + kR R
λr (4r − 2)! λ(r +1) (4r − 1)!
r =1

2
d W k R R dW 
+ =0 R
L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r L (4r +2) ω2r I 0r
dx2 λ dx − k T L (r +1) + k R R k T L (r +2)
d3 W kT R λ (4r + 1)! λ (4r + 2)!
r =0
− W =0 (22) 
dx3 λ  
L (4r −2) ω2r I 0r L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r
R

Here k T R and k R R are the translational and rotational spring con- × + kRL
β D λr (4r − 2)! λ(r +1) (4r − 1)!
stants at the right end which can be calculated from k T R = TLR3 0 r =1
 
L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r L (4r +2) ω2r I 0r
β D R
and k R R = R RL 0 in which β T R and β R R are the corresponding
spring constant factors. Applying the DTM to the boundary con- − k T R (r +1) + k T R k R L (r +2)
λ (4r + 1)! λ (4r + 2)!
ditions in Eq. (22) yields r =0

L (4r −3) ω2r I 0r
R
∞ ∞
(r −2) kR R (r −1) −
r (r − 1) L W [r ] + rL W [r ] = 0 (23a) λr (4r − 3)!
λ r =1
r =0 r =0

L (4r +3) ω2r I 0r
R
∞
kT R
∞ L (4r ) ω2r I r
r (r − 1)(r − 2) L (r −3)
W [r ] − L (r )
W [r ] = 0 (23b) + k T R k T L (r +2) − k T R (r +1) 0
λ λ (4r + 3)! λ (4r )!
r =0 r =0 r =0

Substituting W [r ] from Eq. (21) into Eq. (23) leads to two poly- L (4r ) ω2r I 0r
− kT L
nomial equations which can be arranged into the following matrix λ(r +1) (4r )!
form: 
     R
L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r
p 11 p 12 C0 0 ×
= (24) λr (4r − 1)!
p 21 p 22 C1 0 r =1

L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r
R
where: L (4r ) ω2r I r
+ k R R k R L (r +2) + k R R (r +1) 0
∞
L (4r −2) ω2r I 0r
∞
L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r λ (4r + 1)! λ (4r )!
r =0
p 11 = + kR R 
λr (4r − 2)! λ(r +1) (4r − 1)! L (4r ) ω2r I 0r
r =1 r =1
+ kRL =0 (25)
∞
L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r
∞
L (4r +2) ω2r I 0r λ(r +1) (4r )!
− kT L − k R R kT L
λ(r +1) (4r + 1)! λ(r +2) (4r + 2)! The mode shape function of the FGM beam can be obtained
r =0 r =0 R
∞ ∞
by using W (x) = r =0 xr W [r ]. For linear vibration analysis, C 0 is
L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r L (4r ) ω2r I 0r set to unity, then the mode shape function corresponding to the
p 12 = + kR R
λr (4r − 1)! λ(r +1) (4r )! frequency in Eq. (25) can be derived as:
r =1 r =0 
∞ ∞ R R
L (4r ) ω2r I 0r L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r ω2r I 0r ω2r I 0r
+ kRL + kR RkRL W (x) = x(4r ) + C 1 x(4r +1)
λ(r +1) (4r )! λ(r +2) (4r + 1)! λr (4r )! λr (4r + 1)!
r =0 r =0 r =0 r =0
∞ ∞ R
L (4r −3) ω2r I 0r
2r r
L (4r ) ω2r I 0r ω I 0k R L
p 21 = − kT R + C1 x(4r +2)
λr (4r − 3)! λ(r +1) (4r )! λ(r +1) (4r + 2)!
r =1 r =0 r =0
∞ ∞

L (4r +3) ω2r I r
R
L (4r ) ω2r I r0 0 ω2r I 0r k T L (4r +3)
− kT L + kT R kT L − x (26)
λ(r +1) (4r )! λ(r +2) (4r + 3)! λ(r +1) (4r + 3)!
r =0 r =0 r =0
 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120 115

where: (ii) Substituting the first four quantities of W [r ] into the recur-
   rence equation of Eq. (28) to obtain higher quantities in func-
L (4r −2) ω2r I 0r L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r
R
tion of C 0 and C 1 for constructing the transverse displace-
C1 = − + kR R ment, W (x).
λr (4r − 2)! λ(r +1) (4r − 1)!
r =1 (iii) Using W (x) to substitute into the boundary condition equa-
  tions at x = L, as a result, the natural frequencies can be
L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r L (4r +2) ω2r I 0r
R
− k T L (r +1) + k R R k T L (r +2) solved.
λ (4r + 1)! λ (4r + 2)! (iv) The transverse displacement at the middle of the beam is
r =0
  given here as the vibration amplitude and it is used with the
L (4r −1) ω2r I 0r L (4r +1) ω2r I 0r
R R
fundamental frequency obtained from step (iii) to compute the
+ k R R k R L (r +2)
λr (4r − 1)! λ (4r + 1)! values of C 0 and C 1 . Therefore, the axial force ( N̄ x0 ) of Eq. (15)
r =1 r =0

can be solved.
L (4r ) ω2r I r 0 L (4r ) ω2r I 0r (v) Repeating step (i) using the new value of N̄ x0 , obtained from
+ kR R + kRL (27) step (iv) until the fundamental natural frequency in step (iii)
λ(r +1) (4r )! λ(r +1) (4r )!
converges. This frequency is considered as the nonlinear fre-
quency (ω N L ).
4.2. Nonlinear vibration of FGM beams
5. Numerical results and discussion
In order to solve nonlinear vibration analysis of FGM beams
with elastically end restraints, the governing equation of (14), 5.1. Numerical results of linear vibration analysis
which includes the nonlinear term of the axial stretching force
( N̄ x0 ), is used and transformed into a set of algebraic equations Beginning with linear vibration analysis, FGM beams made
according to the transformation rules of DTM as follows. from Alumina (Al2 O3 ) and Aluminum (Al); whose material prop-
erties are: E = 380 GPa, ρ = 3960 kg/m3 , ν = 0.3 for Al2 O3 and
1 E = 70 GPa, ρ = 2702 kg/m3 , ν = 0.3 for Al; are chosen for
W [r + 4] =
λ(r + 1)(r + 2)(r + 3)(r + 4) this investigation. The dimensionless frequency is defined as Ω =
  √
× N̄ x0 (r + 1)(r + 2) W [r + 2] + I 0 ω2 W [r ] (28) (ω L 2 /h) (ρAl / E Al ). To validate accuracy of the proposed mathe-
matical model derived from the DTM, the comparisons between
The first four quantities of W [r ] that satisfy initial boundary con- the present results and the available results obtained by Simsek
ditions at x = 0 are [22] are shown in Table 3. Excellent agreement is obtained for all
cases by setting appropriate values of translational and rotational
W [0] = C 0 ; W [1] = C 1 spring constants in Eq. (25). The number of terms, R = 15, is suffi-
cient to give accurate results in Table 3.
kR L C1 kT L C 0
W [2] = ; W [3] = − (29) Table 4 gives the 1st to 6th dimensionless frequencies of perfect
2λ 6λ FGM beams supported by elastically end restraints at both ends
These quantities are inserted into the recurrence equation in (E–E beam). A special case of the isotropic beam with n = 0 is
(28) to obtain higher quantities. An example of the higher quanti- verified numerically with the results obtained by Lai et al. [9], with
ties is shown below, excellent agreement. It can be seen that increasing n value leads to
the increase in frequencies.
1 ( N̄ x0 k R L C 1 /λ) + I 0 ω2 C 0 Table 5 provides dimensionless frequencies of perfect and im-
W [4] = perfect FGM beams with E–E boundary condition. The results re-
2 λ
veal that the frequency results increase as the volume fraction of
1 −( N̄ x0 k T L C 0 /λ) + I 0 ω2 C 1
W [5] = porosity (α ) increases. This effect is more pronounce with soft
120 λ spring stiffness than those of moderate and hard spring stiffnesses,
1
2
1 N̄ x0 (( N̄ x0 k R L C 1 /λ)+ I 0 ω C 0 )
+ 1 I 0 ω2 k R L C 1 say, β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 103 to 105 .
2 2
W [6] = λ λ
In Fig. 2, the FGM beams are clamped at the left end and elas-
136 λ tically supported at the right end, or C–E beams. The frequency
2
1 N̄ x0 ((− N̄ x0 k T L C 0 /λ)+ I 0 ω C 1 ) 1 I 0 ω2 k T L C 0
1 6
+ 6
changes due to the increase of porosity are different compared to
W [7] = λ λ
the case of E–E beams. That is, the frequencies are lower as the
840 λ
porosity increases for every spring stiffness, even at the range of
.. high spring stiffness. And considerable changes of frequencies are
.
observed at this range too.
W [r ] Fig. 3 shows the effect of spring constants on frequency results
of imperfect FGM beams with simply supported at the left end and
W [r + 1] elastically supported at the right end (S–E beam). It is observed
W [R] (30) that, for fixed values of β R R , the significant changes of frequencies
are found at the range of moderate spring stiffness, β T R ; whereas
From above mentioned process, the transverse displacement for soft and hard springs, the trend of frequency changes remains
R
function, W (x) = r =0 xr W [r ], can be constructed for sequential relatively constant.
substitution into the boundary conditions at x = L in Eq. (22). To The 1st to 4th mode shapes of the imperfect FGM beams with
solve nonlinear vibration of beams, an iterative procedure is set up elastically supported at both ends are shown in Fig. 4. It is noted
as follows: that the first mode shape depends mostly on the translational
springs which move up and down, including a small bending along
(i) Selecting an initial value of the axial force ( N̄ x0 ). This may be the length of the beam. But for the second mode shape, it seems to
set to zero to obtain a linear frequency as the first approxima- be dependent on the rotational springs whose movement is clock-
tion. wise and anti-clockwise.
116 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120

Table 3
Comparisons of dimensionless fundamental frequencies of perfect FGM beams with various types of general boundary conditions.
B.C. Source Isotropic beams FGM beams
Al2 O3 Al n = 0.2 n = 0.5 n = 1.0 n = 2.0 n = 5.0
S–S Present 5.483 2.849 5.102 4.669 4.221 3.852 3.668
Simsek [22] 5.478 2.846 5.098 4.665 4.216 3.847 3.663

C–F Present 1.953 1.015 1.816 1.663 1.504 1.372 1.307

Simsek [22] 1.952 1.015 1.817 1.663 1.503 1.371 1.306

C–C Present 12.430 6.459 11.566 10.584 9.569 8.732 8.314

Simsek [22] 12.414 6.450 11.554 10.571 9.555 8.719 8.301

S–C Present 8.566 4.451 7.970 7.294 6.594 6.017 5.729

Simsek [22] – – – – – – –

Table 4
Dimensionless frequencies of perfect FGM beams (L /h = 30; k T L = k T R = 1.173 MN/m; k R L = k R R = 1.056 × 103 MN m/rad).

Material Ω1 Ω2 Ω3 Ω4 Ω5 Ω6
n=0 0.781 2.771 14.243 36.242 69.209 113.112
Lai et al. [9] 0.781 2.771 14.242 – – –
n = 0.2 0.802 2.822 14.046 35.532 67.700 110.531
n = 0.5 0.825 2.838 13.206 32.943 62.419 101.637
n = 1.0 0.849 2.838 12.343 30.290 56.994 92.486
n = 2.0 0.876 2.833 11.653 28.148 52.588 85.025
n = 5.0 0.906 2.858 11.364 27.163 50.494 81.420
n = 10.0 0.920 2.861 11.178 26.566 49.245 79.284

Table 5
Dimensionless frequencies of FGM beams with E–E boundary condition (L /h = 30; h = 1.0).
n α βT L = βT R = β R L = β R R
1 10 102 103 104 105
0.5 0.0 0.373 1.168 3.551 8.382 10.750 11.060
0.1 0.392 1.226 3.715 8.562 10.759 11.039
0.2 0.414 1.294 3.903 8.746 10.756 11.004

1.0 0.0 0.384 1.202 3.618 8.020 9.789 10.006

0.1 0.405 1.265 3.783 8.065 9.604 9.786
0.2 0.429 1.340 3.967 8.040 9.322 9.469

2.0 0.0 0.397 1.239 3.686 7.653 8.981 9.136

0.1 0.420 1.308 3.840 7.492 8.537 8.655
0.2 0.447 1.389 3.979 7.088 7.812 7.891

5.0 0.0 0.411 1.281 3.773 7.476 8.576 8.701

0.1 0.436 1.357 3.918 7.168 7.970 8.059
0.2 0.466 1.444 3.982 6.385 6.839 6.887

5.2. Numerical results of nonlinear vibration analysis

This section presents the numerical results of nonlinear vibra-

tion analysis of perfect and imperfect FGM beams with elastically
end restraints. As suggested by Singh et al. [25], a factor of 3/4
could be used to reduce the nonlinear axial stretching force when
the effect of axial displacement is neglected. Therefore, this factor
will be used throughout this section.
Again, in order to validate the present results, the nonlinear
frequency ratios, ( ωωN L ), of the present study are compared to those
L
of Singh et al. [25], for the special case of isotropic beam with
simply supported boundary condition. This comparison is shown in
Table 6. Exact agreement is observed for every vibration amplitude
(W m /Φ ). It is noted that W m is√the transverse displacement at the
middle of the beam and Φ = I / A, where I is the area moment
of inertia and A the area of beam cross-section. Additionally, the
nonlinear frequency ratios of perfect FGM beams for n = 0.2 to Fig. 2. Dimensionless frequencies of FGM beams with C–E boundary condition
(L /h = 30; h = 1.0; n = 2.0).
n = 5.0 are also presented.
Following the iterative procedure as outlined in Section 4.2, the
convergence rate for nonlinear vibration of E–E beam is illustrated Fig. 5 shows the nonlinear frequency ratios of perfect and im-
in Table 7. It is seen that convergence rate is very good within perfect FGM beams with S–E and C–E boundary conditions. It can
4 iterations. be seen that the nonlinearity of the beams increases as the in-
 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120 117

Table 6
Nonlinear frequency ratios of simply supported FGM beams (L /h = 20; h = 0.1).

W m /Φ
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
n=0 1.0897 1.3229 1.6394 2.0000 2.3848
Singh et al. [25] 1.0897 1.3229 1.6394 2.0000 2.3848
n = 0.2 1.1225 1.3839 1.7221 2.1002 2.5003
n = 0.5 1.1616 1.4560 1.8198 2.2188 2.6379
n = 1.0 1.2035 1.5304 1.9187 2.3380 2.7742
n = 2.0 1.2284 1.5677 1.9612 2.3821 2.8183
n = 3.0 1.2213 1.5473 1.9256 2.3309 2.7512
n = 5.0 1.1945 1.4894 1.8372 2.2129 2.6045

Fig. 5. Nonlinear frequency ratios of FGM beams with S–E and C–E boundary condi-
tions (L /h = 20; h = 1.0; n = 1.0; β T R = β R R = 103 ).
Fig. 3. Dimensionless frequencies of FGM beams with S–E boundary condition
(L /h = 30; h = 1.0; n = 2.0; α = 0.1).

Fig. 6. Nonlinear frequency ratios of FGM beams with E–E boundary condition
(L /h = 20; h = 1.0; W m /Φ = 3.0; β T L = β R L = β T R = β R R = 104 ).

crease of porosity volume fraction for all values of given vibration

Fig. 4. The 1st to 4th mode shapes of FGM beams with E–E boundary condition amplitudes. The nonlinear frequency ratios of C–E beam are lower
(L /h = 30; h = 1.0; n = 1.0; α = 0.1; β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 10).
than those of S–E beam. Increasing vibration amplitudes yields the
increase of nonlinearity.
To study the influences of volume fraction index of material
Table 7
constituents (n) and porosity volume index (α ) on nonlinear fre-
Convergence rate examples of perfect FGM beams with E–E boundary condition
(L /h = 30; h = 1.0; n = 5.0; W m /Φ = 3.0). quency ratios, the results of perfect and imperfect FGM beams
elastically supported at both ends are shown in Fig. 6. Similar to
No. iteration βT L = βT R = β R L = β R R
the previous cases of S–E and C–E beams that nonlinear frequency
10 102 103 104
ratio of imperfect beam is considerably higher than that of the per-
(ω L ) 7.242 21.337 42.278 48.501
1 7.268 21.435 45.700 56.496
fect one for every value of n. Remarkably, the maximum nonlinear-
2 7.268 21.431 45.375 56.354 ity of the beam is found at around n = 2.0. To explain why n ≈ 2.0
3 21.431 45.404 56.357 provides the largest nonlinear frequency ratio, let us give the ex-
4 45.404 56.357
amples of the ratio of the imperfect FGM beams with α = 0.2.
ωN L /ωL 1.0036 1.0044 1.0739 1.1620
The ratio of the beam with n = 1.0 is ωωN L = 143 .658
118.613
= 1.211, and
L
118 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120

cross-section. In addition, for another scenario of porosity distri-

bution, it is possible to have imperfect FGM samples which have
almost porosities spreading around the middle zone of the cross-
section and the amount of porosity seems to be on the decrease to
zero at the top and bottom of the cross-section. Based on the prin-
ciple of the multi-step sequential infiltration technique that can be
used to produce FGM samples [29], the porosities mostly occur at
the middle zone. At this zone, it is difficult to infiltrate the mate-
rials completely, while at the top and bottom zones, the process of
material infiltration can be performed easier and leaves less poros-
ity. Consider this scenario, the equations of Young’s modulus (E)
and material density (ρ ) in Eqs. (4)–(5) are replaced by the fol-
lowing forms:
 n
z 1
E ( z) = ( E c − E m ) +
h 2
 
α 2| z |
Fig. 7. Nonlinear frequency ratios of imperfect FGM beams with E–E boundary con- + Em − (E c + Em ) 1 − (31)
dition (L /h = 20; h = 1.0; W m /Φ = 3.0; n = 2.0; α = 0.1).
2 h
 n
z 1
ρ (z) = (ρc − ρm ) +
h 2
 
α 2| z |
+ ρm − (ρc + ρm ) 1 − (32)
2 h
It is interesting to compare the linear and nonlinear vibra-
tion results obtained from different types of porosity distribution.
Therefore, the next numerical exercises are given for this purpose.
In Fig. 9, the linear fundamental frequencies of FGM beams with
two different types of porosity distribution are plotted against the
volume fraction index (n). It is noted that Solution I refers to
the result of FGM beams with evenly distributed porosities us-
ing Eqs. (4)–(5), while, Solution II is for the beams with another
type of porosity distribution using Eqs. (31)–(32). The FGM beams
having L /h = 30 and α = 0.1 are considered with soft spring stiff-
ness (β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 102 ) in Fig. 9(a) and hard spring
Fig. 8. Nonlinear frequency ratios of imperfect FGM beams with S–E, C–E and E–E stiffness (β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 105 ) in Fig. 9(b). As observed,
boundary conditions (L /h = 20; h = 1.0; n = 1.0; α = 0.1; β T L = β R L = β T R = Solution I provides higher frequencies than those of Solution II
β R R = 103 ).
when the beams supported by soft springs; moreover, the fre-
quencies increase as the increase of n. However, the trend of fre-
for the beam with n = 2.0 its ratio is ωωN L = 123 .466
99.409
= 1.242. It is quency changes is reversed when the beams are supported by hard
L
clearly seen that the beam with n = 1.0 has greater nonlinear fre- springs.
quency (ω N L ) but it also has greater linear frequency (ω L ) too; For nonlinear vibration of imperfect FGM beams with two dif-
while, the beam with n = 2.0 has much lower linear frequency. ferent types of porosity distribution, Fig. 10 shows the plot of
Therefore, it can be said that increasing n leads to the reduction nonlinear frequency ratio to vibration amplitude of the beams
in nonlinear frequency. But for the nonlinear frequency ratio, it is with E–E boundary condition (β = β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R =
dependent on both linear and nonlinear frequencies of the beams 102 and 103 ). The nonlinearity of Solution I is higher than that of
with different values of n. Solution II. For soft spring supports, the differences between the
Fig. 7 shows the nonlinear frequency ratios of imperfect FGM results of Solutions I and II are small.
beams with variation of translational and rotational spring con-
stants at both ends. According to this figure, it is found that the 6. Conclusion
nonlinearity of the beams depends significantly on the values of
spring constants, especially at the range of soft and moderate The linear and nonlinear responses of perfect and imperfect
spring stiffness. However, the nonlinearity seems to be stable for FGM beams with elastically restrained ends are studied in the
beams resting on very high stiffness linear springs. present paper. The modified rule of mixture covering porosity
The comparisons between nonlinear frequency ratios of S–E, phases is used to describe and approximate material properties of
C–E and E–E beams associated with variation of vibration ampli- the imperfect FGM beams. The solutions derived from the differen-
tudes are illustrated in Fig. 8. From this figure, the S–E beam gives tial transformation method are applicable to all types of boundary
the highest nonlinear frequency ratios compared to those of C–E conditions by setting the appropriate values of translational and
and E–E beams for every value of vibration amplitudes. This is rotational spring constants. Several significant effects of boundary
because the S–E beam is more flexible or easier to be deflected, conditions, volume fraction of material constituents and volume
compared to the C–E and E–E beams. This behavior matches well fraction of porosity as well as spring constants on linear and non-
with the study of Lai et al. [10] that shows the nonlinear frequency linear vibration of the beams are investigated. According to the
ratio of S–S beam is higher than that of S–C beam. numerical results, the concluding remarks are made as follows.
All numerical exercises of linear and nonlinear vibration anal- For linear vibration analysis, increasing n value leads to the re-
yses of imperfect FGM beams presented above are obtained from duction in frequencies of the beams with general boundary condi-
the beams having porosities which distribute evenly over the beam tions. For E–E beam, frequencies increase as the increase of poros-
 N. Wattanasakulpong, V. Ungbhakorn / Aerospace Science and Technology 32 (2014) 111–120 119

Fig. 9. Dimensionless frequencies of imperfect FGM beams with E–E boundary condition (a) β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 102 and (b) β T L = β T R = β R L = β R R = 105 .

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