Creep analysis of an internally pressurized thick cylinder made of a functionally graded composite

In the present study, a mathematical model has been developed to describe steady-state creep in an isotropic functionally graded composite cylinder. The cylinder is subjected to internal pressure and is made of functionally graded composite containing linearly varying silicon carbide particles in a matrix of pure aluminium. The cylinder is assumed to creep according to a threshold stress-based creep law having a stress exponent 5. The effect of employing a linear gradient in the distribution of reinforcement has been observed on the variation of creep stresses and creep rates in the composite cylinder. It is observed that the radial stress in the cylinder decreases throughout with the increase in reinforcement gradient, whereas the tangential, axial, and effective stresses increase significantly near the inner radius but show significant decrease towards the outer radius. The strain rates in the composite cylinder could be reduced significantly by tailoring the distribution of reinforcement while maintaining the same average amount of reinforcement. The distribution of strain rate becomes relatively uniform with increase in particle gradient.