Static and Free Vibration Analysis of Functionally Graded Shells Using a Cell-Based Smoothed Discrete Shear Gap Method and Triangular Elements

A cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (CS-DSG3) using three-node triangular element was recently proposed to improve the effectiveness of the discrete shear gap method (DSG3) for static and vibration analyses of isotropic Mindlin plates and shells. In this study, the CS-DSG3 is further extended for static and free vibration responses of functionally graded shells. In the present method, the first-order shear deformation theory is used in the formulation owing to the simplicity and computational efficiency. Several numerical examples are provided to validate high reliability of the CS-DSG3 in comparison with other numerical methods.