Bending and vibration study of carbon nanotubes reinforced functionally graded smart composite beams

Abstract

A study of smart functionally graded (FG) beams made of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced composites combined with piezoelectric materials is presented. The material parameters of the composite beams are assumed to vary along their thickness following extended rule of mixture. A finite element (FE) model was developed for the FG carbon nanotube-reinforced beam combined with piezoelectric materials. This model was tested against previously published studies and was found to be in accordance with them. The numerical results were evaluated using various boundary conditions and are presented. The appropriateness of the piezoelectric layer for deflection control of the FG beam is presented followed by the free vibration results. The numerical analysis revealed that the piezoelectric layer of the smart FG beam efficiently controlled the bending deflections of the presently studied carbon nanotube-reinforced FG beams. Various material profiles for grading FG beams were considered and the results are presented.