A quasi-three-dimensional isogeometric model for porous sandwich functionally graded plates reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets

The purpose of this study is to present a quasi-three-dimensional (quasi-3D) shear deformation theory for static bending and free vibration analyses of porous sandwich functionally graded (FG) plates with graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs) reinforcement. In addition, we propose a novel sandwich plate model with various outstanding features in terms of structural performance. The quasi-3D theory-based isogeometric analysis (IGA) in conjunction with refined plate theory (RPT) is first exploited to capture adequately the thickness stretching effect for porous sandwich FG plate structures reinforced with GPLs. The Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS)-based IGA is employed in order to describe exactly the geometry models as well as approximate the unknown field with higher-order derivatives and continuity requirements while the RPT model includes only four essential variables. The sandwich FG plates consist of a core layer containing internal pores reinforced by GPLs and two functionally graded materials (FGMs) skin layers. Effective mechanical properties can be evaluated by employing the Halpin-Tsai model along with the rule of mixture. Various combinations of two porosity distributions and three GPL dispersions in the core layer are thoroughly investigated. Several numerical investigations are conducted to examine the effects of several key parameters on the static bending and free vibration behaviors of sandwich FG plate structures.