Analysis of thermo-elastoplastic bending behavior of FG skew sandwich plates on elastic foundation using an enhanced meshless radial basis reproducing kernel particle approach

This paper aims to present an analysis of the thermo-elastoplastic bending behavior of skew functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates resting on a Winkler/Pasternak foundation, employing a novel three-dimensional (3D) meshless approach. The material properties are assumed to be completely temperature-dependent, and the sandwich plate with FG face sheets and core is exposed to mechanical and thermal loads. The discretized equation systems of nonlinear transient heat conduction and incremental thermo-elastoplasticity are derived using a 3D radial basis reproducing kernel particle approach. The meshless model utilizes a novel high-order kernel that combines Gaussian and cosine functions. The incremental plastic deformation is modeled by the Prandtl–Reuss flow rule along the isotropic hardening von Mises criterion. The results demonstrate excellent agreement when compared with those existing in the literature. The influence of different foundation parameters, skew angles, layer thickness ratios, thickness-to-length ratios, power law exponents, and boundary conditions on the elastoplastic bending behavior of the FG skew sandwich plate is evaluated.