Transient thermo-mechanical response of a functionally graded beam under the effect of a moving heat source

The transient thermo-mechanical behavior of a simply-supported beam made of a functionally graded material (FGM) under the effect of a moving heat source is investigated. The FGM consists of a ceramic part (on the top), which is the hot side of the beam as the heat source motion takes place along this side, and a metal part (in the bottom), which is considered the cold side. Grading is in the transverse direction, with the properties being temperature-dependent. The main steps of the thermo-elastic modeling included deriving the partial differential equations for the temperatures and deflections in time and space, transforming them into ordinary differential equations using Laplace transformation, and finally using the inverse Laplace transformation to find the solutions. The effects of different parameters on the thermomechanical behavior of the beam are investigated, such as the convection coefficient and the heat source intensity and speed. The results show that temperatures, and hence the deflections and stresses increase with less heat convection from the beam surface, higher heat source intensity and low speeds.