The thermoelastic wave in multilayered spherical shells with functionally graded (FG) layers under thermal boundary
conditions is studied. The Lord–Shulman generalized coupled thermoelasticity theory is applied to illustrate the effect of
finite heat wave speed. The material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent, and consequently, the governing
equations become nonlinear ones. The layerwise-differential quadrature method together with Newmark time integration
scheme and Newton–Raphson method are employed to solve the governing equations. The fast rate of convergence of the
method is illustrated, and its accuracy is assessed by comparing the results with various existing solutions in the open
literature wherever possible. Afterward, the effects of different parameters and also the temperature dependence of material
properties on the transient thermoelastic responses of the FG spherical shells are studied and discussed. It is found that the
temperature dependence of material properties, thermo-mechanical coupling, thickness-to-outer radius ratio and FG layer
layout significantly affect the thermo-mechanical behavior of the FG shells.