Investigation of the instability of FGM box beams

A general geometrically non-linear model for lateral-torsional buckling of thick and thin-walled FGM box beams is presented. In this model primary and secondary torsional warping and shear effects are taken into account. The coupled equilibrium equations obtained from Galerkin's method are derived and the corresponding tangent matrix is used to compute the critical moments. General expression is derived for the lateral-torsional buckling load of unshearable FGM beams. The results are validated by comparison with a 3D finite element simulation using the code ABAQUS. The influences of the geometrical characteristics and the shear effects on the buckling loads are demonstrated through several case studies.