A Study of Thermal and Thermal Stress Waves in Functionally Graded Materials by the Method of Characteristics

The present study involves propagation of thermal and thermal stress waves in a hollow circular cylinder of Functtionally Graded Material (FGM) under laser-pulse heating. The FGM is regarded as a mixture of ceramic and metal phases, the volume fractions of which distribute continuously inside the material. The mathematical problem is one of the wave propagation in nonhomogeneous material. The formulation of the problem is based on the theory of coupled thermoelasticity along with the modified Fourier's law. A set of generalized equation is presented which governs the propagation of plane, cylindrical, and spherical waves in FGM. The solution is obtained by using the method of characteristics. Numerical results for the propagation of thermal and thermal stress waves in a PSZ (partially stabilized zirconia)/SUS304 (type 304 stainless steel) FGM hollow circular cylinder are presented in graphical form.