The main objective of this study is to examine the three dimensional surface crack problems in functionally graded coatings subjected to mode I mechanical or transient thermal loading. The surface cracks are assumed to have a semi-elliptical crack front profile of arbitrary aspect ratio. The cracks are embedded in the functionally graded material (FGM) coating which is perfectly bonded to a homogeneous substrate. A three dimensional finite element method is used to solve the thermal and structural problems. Collapsed 20-node isoparametric elements are utilized to simulate the strain singularity around the crack front. The stress intensity factors are computed by using the displacement correlation technique. Four different coating types are considered in the analyses which have homogeneous, ceramic-rich (CR), metal-rich (MR) and linear variation (LN) material composition profiles. In the mechanical loading problems, the composite medium is assumed to be subjected to fixed-grip tension or three point bending. In the thermal analysis, a transient residual stress problem is considered. The stress intensity factors calculated for FGM plates are in good agreement with the previously published results on three dimensional surface cracks. The new results provided show that maximum stress intensity factors computed during transient thermal loading period for the FGM coatings are lower than those of the homogeneous ceramic ones.

a b s t r a c tAnalytical and computational methods are developed for contact mechanics analysis of functionally graded materials (FGMs) that possess elastic gradation in the lateral direction. In the analytical formulation, the problem of a laterally graded half-plane in sliding frictional contact with a rigid punch of an arbitrary profile is considered. The governing partial differential equations and the boundary conditions of the problem are satisfied through the use of Fourier transformation. The problem is then reduced to a singular integral equation of the second kind which is solved numerically by using an expansion-collocation technique. Computational studies of the sliding contact problems of laterally graded materials are conducted by means of the finite element method. In the finite element analyses, the laterally graded half-plane is discretized by quadratic finite elements for which the material parameters are specified at the centroids. Flat and triangular punch profiles are considered in the parametric analyses. The comparisons of the results generated by the analytical technique to those computed by the finite element method demonstrate the high level of accuracy attained by both methods. The presented numerical results illustrate the influences of the lateral nonhomogeneity and the coefficient of friction on the contact stresses.

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Mixed-mode fracture problems of orthotropic functionally graded materials (FGMs) are examined under mechanical and thermal loading conditions. In the case of mechanical loading, an embedded crack in an orthotropic FGM layer is considered. The crack is assumed to be loaded by arbitrary normal and shear tractions that are applied to its surfaces. An analytical solution based on the singular integral equations and a numerical approach based on the enriched finite elements are developed to evaluate the mixed-mode stress intensity factors and the energy release rate under the given mechanical loading conditions. The use of this dual approach methodology allowed the verifications of both methods leading to a highly accurate numerical predictive capability to assess the effects of material orthotropy and nonhomogeneity constants on the crack tip parameters. In the case of thermal loading, the response of periodic cracks in an orthotropic FGM layer subjected to transient thermal stresses is examined by means of the developed enriched finite element method. The results presented for the thermally loaded layer illustrate the influences of the material property gradation profiles and crack periodicity on the transient fracture mechanics parameters.

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