Static analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite cylinders by a mesh-free method

Abstract

In this paper, static analysis of nanocomposite cylinders reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes subjected to internal and external pressure was carried out by a mesh-free method. In the mesh-free analysis, moving least squares shape functions are used for approximation of displacement field in the weak form of equilibrium equation. Four types of distributions of the aligned carbon nanotubes are considered: uniform and three kinds of functionally graded distributions along the radial direction of cylinder. Material properties are estimated by a micro-mechanical model. In this simulation, an axisymmetric model is used. Detailed parametric studies have been carried out to investigate the influences of the kind of distribution and volume fractions of carbon nanotubes and cylinder thickness on displacement and stress fields for carbon nanotube-reinforced composite cylinders. Results obtained for this analysis were compared with analytical solutions and good agreement was seen between them. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav.