Abstract
In this paper, the nonlinear transient thermal stress analysis is conducted for temperature-dependent hollow cylinders subjected to a decaying-with-time thermal field. By the finite element method, the highly nonlinear governing equations are solved. The time histories of temperature, displacement, and stress due to the decaying-with-time thermal load are computed. A sensitivity analysis includes the effects of exponent of the decayed heat flux and temperature-dependency of density and material properties is carried out. Numerical results show some interesting characteristics of the thermoelastic behaviors of the hollow cylinders studied. In particular, the effect of temperature-dependency of the material properties on the thermoelastic parameters was demonstrated to be significant.