Deformation and stresses in functionally graded rotating disks

Functionally graded materials are attractive because of the additional possibilities they offer for optimising the design of components in terms of material usage and performance. This paper explores, in part, the potential benefits of using fibre-reinforced, functionally graded materials for rotating hollow and solid disks. Several forms of gradation with the same nominal volume fraction of reinforcement were considered. This established a basis for comparison of results obtained for the different cases. The functionally graded material was modelled as a non-homogeneous orthotropic material. The finite-element method and direct numerical integration of the governing differential equations were used to predict stress and deformation distribution in the disks. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.