Abstract
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are widely used in the aerospace industry, especially for the thermal protection shields of aerospace vehicles. Studies show that the initiation and expansion of micro-cracks are important factors that adversely affect the service life of these shields. Based on the peridynamic theory of bonds, an improved peridynamic model is proposed in the present study for FGMs. In the proposed model, integral equivalence is applied to calculate the required material parameters. Obtained results reveal that this method can better reflect the gradient change of material properties.