• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2023

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.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.797-808
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• 2022

This paper presents an investigation on the free vibration characteristics of functionally graded nanocomposite double-beams reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The double-beams coupled by an interlayer spring, resting on the elastic foundation with a linear layer and shear layer, and is simply supported in thermal environments. The SWCNTs gradient distributed in the thickness direction of the beam forms different reinforcement patterns. The materials properties of the functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTRC) are estimated by rule of mixture. The first order shear deformation theory and Euler-Lagrange variational principle are employed to derive the motion equations incorporating the thermal effects. The vibration characteristics under several patterns of reinforcement are presented and discussed. We conducted a series of studies aimed at revealing the effects of the spring stiffness, environment temperature, thickness ratios and carbon nanotube volume fraction on the nature frequency.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.413-426
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• 2024

This paper investigates the dynamic behavior of a simply supported viscoelastic plate made of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite under dynamic loading. Carbon nanotubes are distributed in 5 different shapes: U, V, A, O and X, depending on the shape they form through the thickness of the plate. The displacement fields are derived in the Laplace domain using a higher-order shear deformation theory. Equations of motion are obtained through the application of the energy method and Hamilton's principle. The resulting equations of motion are solved using Navier's method. Transforming the Laplace domain displacements into the time domain involves Durbin's modified inverse Laplace transform. To validate the accuracy of the developed algorithm, a free vibration analysis is conducted for simply supported plate made of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite and compared against existing literature. Subsequently, a parametric forced vibration analysis considers the influence of various parameters: volume fractions of carbon nanotubes, their distributions, and ratios of instantaneous value to retardation time in the relaxation function, using a linear standard viscoelastic model. In the forced vibration analysis, the dynamic distributed load applied to functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite viscoelastic plate is obtained in terms of double trigonometric series. The study culminates in an examination of maximum displacement, exploring the effects of different carbon nanotube distributions, volume fractions, and ratios of instantaneous value to retardation times in the relaxation function on the amplitudes of maximum displacements.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.149-159
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• 2018

Thermo-mechanical buckling of sandwich beams with a stiff core and face sheets made of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) within the framework of Timoshenko beam theory is presented. The material properties of FG-CNTRC are supposed to vary continuously in the thickness direction and are estimated through the rule of mixture. Also the properties of these materials should be considered temperature dependent. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived by using Hamilton's principle and solved using an efficient technique called the Differential Transform Method (DTM) to achieve the critical buckling of the sandwich beam in uniform thermal environment. A detailed parametric study is guided to investigate the effects of carbon nanotube volume fraction, slenderness ratio, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio, and clamped-clamped, simply-simply and clamped-simply end supports on the critical buckling behavior of sandwich beams with FG-CNTRC face sheets. Numerical results for comparison of sandwich beams with uniformly distributed carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (UD-CNTRC) face sheets with those with FG-CNTRC face sheets are also presented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.135-148
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• 2024

This paper analytically investigates the free vibration analysis of functionally graded-carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates by dynamic stiffness method (DSM). The properties of CNTRC are determined with the extended rule of mixture. The governing differential equations of motion based on the first-order shear deformation theory of CNTRC plate are derived using Hamilton's principle. The FG-CNTRC plates are studied for a uniform and two different distributions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The accuracy and performance of the DSM are compared with the results obtained from closed closed-form and semi-analytical solution methods in previous studies. In this study, the effects of boundary condition, distribution type of CNTs, plate aspect ratio, plate length to thickness ratio, and different values of CNTs volume fraction on the natural frequencies of the FG-CNTRC plates are investigated. Finally, various natural frequencies of the plates in different conditions are provided as a benchmark for comparing the accuracy and precision of the other analytical and numerical methods.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.255-261
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• 2014

Multi-walled carbon nanotube reinforced epoxy composites were fabricated using shear mixing and sonication. The mechanical, viscoelastic, thermal, and electrical properties of the fabricated specimens were measured and evaluated. From the images and the results of the measurements of tensile strengths, the specimens having 0.6 wt% nanotube content showed better dispersion and higher strength than those of the other specimens. The Young's moduli of the specimens increased as the nanotube filler content was increased in the matrix. As the concentrations of nanotubes filler were increased in the composite specimens, their storage and loss moduli also tended to increase. The specimen having a nanotube filler content of 0.6 wt% showed higher thermal conductivity than that of the other specimens. On the other hand, in the measurement of thermal expansion, specimens having 0.4 and 0.6 wt% filler contents showed a lower value than that of the other specimens. The electrical conductivities also increased with increasing content of nanotube filler. Based on the measured and evaluated properties of the composites, it is believed that the simple and efficient fabrication process used in this study was sufficient to obtain improved properties in the specimens.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2020

In this paper, the bending behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (CNTRC) laminated plates is studied using various shear deformation plate theories. Several types of reinforcement material distributions, a uniform distribution (UD) and three functionally graded distributions (FG), are inspected. A generalized higher-order deformation plate theory is utilized to derive the field equations of the CNTRC laminated plates where an analytical technique based on Navier's series is utilized to solve the static problem for simply-supported boundary conditions. A detailed numerical analysis is carried out to examine the influence of carbon nanotube volume fraction, laminated composite structure, side-to-thickness, and aspect ratios on stresses and deflection of the CNTRC laminated plates.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.199-210
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• 2014

Carbon nanotubes have exceptional mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, and are considered for high performance structural and multifunctional composites. In the present study, the natural frequencies of aligned single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced composite beams are obtained using shear deformable composite beam theories. The Ritz method with algebraic polynomial displacement functions is used to solve the free vibration problem of composite beams. The Mori-Tanaka method is applied to find the composite beam mechanical properties. The continuity conditions are satisfied among the layers by modifying the displacement field. Results are found for different CNT diameters, length to thickness ratio of the composite beam and different boundary conditions. It is found that the use of smaller CNT diameter in the reinforcement element gives higher fundamental frequency for the composite beam.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.641-652
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• 2022

Fluid-conveying tubes are widely used to transport oil and natural gas in industries. As an advanced composite material, functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTRC) have great potential to empower the industry. However, nonlinear free vibration of the FG-CNTRC fluid-conveying pipe has not been attempted in thermal environment. In this paper, the nonlinear free vibration characteristic of functionally graded nanocomposite fluid-conveying pipe reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in thermal environment is investigated. The SWCNTs gradient distributed in the thickness direction of the pipe forms different reinforcement patterns. The material properties of the FG-CNTRC are estimated by rule of mixture. A higher-order shear deformation theory and Hamilton's variational principle are employed to derive the motion equations incorporating the thermal and fluid effects. A two-step perturbation method is implemented to obtain the closed-form asymptotic solutions for these nonlinear partial differential equations. The nonlinear frequencies under several reinforcement patterns are presented and discussed. We conduct a series of studies aimed at revealing the effects of the flow velocity, the environment temperature, the inner-outer diameter ratio, and the carbon nanotube volume fraction on the nature frequency.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.445-458
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• 2024

The objective of this paper is to present free vibration and static stability analyses of rotating composite beams reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under uniform thermal loads. Beam structural equations and CNT-reinforced composite (CNTRC) beam formulations are derived based on Timoshenko beam theory (TBT). The temperature-dependent properties of the beam material, such as the elastic modulus, shear modulus, and material density, are assumed to vary over the thickness according to the rule of mixture. The beam material is modeled as a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in an isotropic matrix. The SWCNTs are aligned and distributed in the isotropic matrix with different patterns of reinforcement, namely the UD (uniform), FG-O, FG-V, FG- Λ and FG-X distributions, where FG-V and FG- Λ are asymmetric patterns. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effects of several essential parameters, including the rotational speed, hub radius, effective material properties, slenderness ratio, boundary conditions, thermal force, and moments due to temperature variation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first attempt at the finite element modeling of rotating CNTRC Timoshenko beams under a thermal environment. The results are presented in tables and figures for both symmetric and asymmetric distribution patterns, and can be used as benchmarks for further validation.