Nonlinear cylindrical bending of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates

In this paper, the nonlinear cylindrical bending of simply supported, functionally graded nanocomposite plates reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), is studied. The plates are subjected to uniform pressure loading in thermal environments and their geometric nonlinearity is introduced in the strain–displacement equations based on Von-Karman assumptions. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTCRs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The governing equations are reduced to linear differential equation with nonlinear boundary conditions yielding a simple solution procedure. Numerical results are presented to show the effect of the material distribution on the deflections and stresses.