A Coupled Differential Quadrature and Finite Element Method for 3-D Transient Heat Transfer Analysis of Functionally Graded Thick Plates

Abstract

Using the potential of the finite-element method (FEM) to model irregular domains in combination with the capability of the differential quadrature method (DQM) to solve accurately variable-coefficients initial-boundary-value differential equations, a hybrid numerical method is introduced for the three-dimensional (3-D) transient heat transfer analysis of functionally graded thick plates. The in-plane spatial derivatives are discretized using the FEM and the resulting transient-variable-coefficient partial differential equations are discretized in the transverse direction and temporal domain employing the incremental DQM, which is an unconditionally stable scheme. It is shown that highly accurate results can be obtained using few differential quadrature grid points and finite elements.