Vibration response of rotating carbon nanotube reinforced composites in thermal environment

This paper deals with the free vibration behavior of rotating composite beams reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under uniform thermal loads. The temperature-dependent beam material is assumed to be a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in an isotropic matrix and five different functionally graded (FG) distributions of CNTs are considered according to the variation along the thickness, namely the UD-uniform, FG-O, FG-V, FG-Λ and FG-X distributions where FG-V and FG-Λ are unsymmetrical patterns. Considering the Timoshenko beam theory (TBT), a new finite element formulation of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FGCNTRC) beam is created for the first time. And the effects of several essential parameters including rotational speed, hub radius, effective material properties, slenderness ratio, boundary conditions, thermal force and moments due to temperature variation are considered in the formulation. By implementing different boundary conditions, some new results of both symmetric and non-symmetrical distribution patterns are presented in tables and figures to be used as benchmark for further validation. In addition, as an alternative advanced composite application for rotating systems exposed to thermal load, the positive effects of CNT addition in improving the dynamic performance of the system have been observed and the results are presented in several tables and figures.