In this paper, an analytical method is used to study the nonlinear static and dynamic thermal buckling analysis of imperfect spiral stiffened functionally graded (SSFG) cylindrical shells. The SSFG cylindrical shell is surrounded by a linear and nonlinear elastic foundation. The proposed linear model is based on the two-parameter elastic foundation (Winkler and Pasternak). A three-parameter elastic foundation with hardening/softening cubic nonlinearity is used for nonlinear model. The material properties are temperature dependent and assumed to be continuously graded in the thickness direction. Also, for thermal buckling analysis, the uniform and linear temperature distribution in thickness direction is considered. The SSFG cylindrical shells are considered with various angles for spiral stiffeners. The strain–displacement relations are obtained based on the von Kármán nonlinear equations and the classical plate theory of shells. The smeared stiffener technique and the Galerkin method are applied to solve the nonlinear problem. In order to find the nonlinear dynamic thermal buckling responses, the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is used. To validate the results, comparisons are made with those available in literature and good agreements are shown. The effects of various geometrical and material parameters are investigated on the nonlinear static and dynamic thermal buckling response of SSFG cylindrical shells.
