The response of functionally graded ceramic metal plates is investigated using a plate finite element that accounts for the transverse shear strains, rotary inertia and moderately large rotations in the von Krmn sense. The static and dynamic response of the functionally graded material (fgm) plates are investigated by varying the volume fraction of the ceramic and metallic constituents using a simple power law distribution. Numerical results for the deflection and stresses are presented. The effect of the imposed temperature field on the response of the fgm plate is discussed. It is found that in general, the response of the plates with material properties between those of the ceramic and metal is not intermediate to the responses of the ceramic and metal plates. 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
