Thermomechanical nonlinear buckling of pressure-loaded carbon nanotube reinforced composite toroidal shell segment surrounded by an elastic medium with tangentially restrained edges

Abstract

Buckling and postbuckling behaviors of toroidal shell segment reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes, surrounded by an elastic medium, exposed to a thermal environment and subjected to uniform external pressure are investigated in this paper. Carbon nanotubes are reinforced into matrix phase by uniform distribution or functionally graded distribution along the thickness direction. Material properties of constituents are assumed to be temperature dependent, and the effective properties of carbon nanotube reinforced composite are estimated by extended mixture rule through a micromechanical model. Governing equations for toroidal shell segments are based on the classical thin shell theory taking into account geometrical nonlinearity, surrounding elastic medium, and varying degree of tangential constraints of edges. Three-term solution of deflection and stress function are assumed to satisfy simply supported boundary condition, and Galerkin method is applied to derive nonlinear load–deflection relation from which buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths are determined. Analysis shows that tangential edge restraints have significant effects on nonlinear buckling of carbon nanotube reinforced composite toroidal shell segments. In addition, the effects of carbon nanotube volume fraction, distribution types, geometrical ratios, elastic foundation, and thermal environments on the buckling and postbuckling behaviors of carbon nanotube reinforced composite toroidal shell segments are analyzed and discussed.