• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.821-832
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• 2019

An analysis on thermal buckling and postbuckling of composite laminated plates reinforced with a low amount of graphene platelets is performed in the current investigation. It is assumed that graphaene platelets are randomly oriented and uniformly dispersed in each layer of the composite media. Elastic properties of the nanocomposite media are obtained by means of the modified Halpin-Tsai approach which takes into account the size effects of the graphene reinforcements. By means of the von $K{\acute{a}}rm{\acute{a}}n$ type of geometrical nonlinearity, third order shear deformation theory and nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) based isogeometric finite element method, the governing equations for the thermal postbuckling of nanocomposite plates in rectangular shape are established. These equations are solved by means of a direct displacement control strategy. Numerical examples are given to study the effects of boundary conditions, weight fraction of graphene platelets and distribution pattern of graphene platelets. It is shown that, with introduction of a small amount of graphene platelets into the matrix of the composite media, the critical buckling temperature of the plate may be enhanced and thermal postbuckling deflection may be alleviated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.337-353
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• 2021

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are widely employed in sensors, biomedical devices, optic sectors, and micro-accelerometers. New reinforcement materials such as carbon nanotubes as well as graphene platelets provide stiffer structures with controllable mechanical specifications by changing the graphene platelet features. This paper deals with buckling analyses of functionally graded graphene platelets micro plates with two piezoelectric layers subjected to external applied voltage. Governing equations are based on Kirchhoff plate theory assumptions beside the modified couple stress theory to incorporate the micro scale influences. A uniform temperature change and external electric field are regarded along the micro plate thickness. Moreover, an external in-plane mechanical load is uniformly distributed along the micro plate edges. The Hamilton's principle is employed to extract the governing equations. The material properties of each composite layer reinforced with graphene platelets of the considered micro plate are evaluated by the Halpin-Tsai micromechanical model. The governing equations are solved by the Navier's approach for the case of simply-supported boundary condition. The effects of the external applied voltage, the material length scale parameter, the thickness of the piezoelectric layers, the side, the length and the weight fraction of the graphene platelets as well as the graphene platelets distribution pattern on the critical buckling temperature change and on the critical buckling in-plane load are investigated. The outcomes illustrate the reduction of the thermal buckling strength independent of the graphene platelets distribution pattern while meanwhile the mechanical buckling strength is promoted. Furthermore, a negative voltage, -50 Volt, strengthens the micro plate stability against the thermal buckling occurrence about 9% while a positive voltage, 50 Volt, decreases the critical buckling load about 9% independent of the graphene platelet distribution pattern.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.1
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• pp.87-102
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• 2024

In recent years, the focus on vibration analysis of multilayer smart structures has attracted considerable attention in many engineering applications. In this work, vibration analysis of a three-layer microporous beam with a core amplified by a composite material reinforced with graphene platelets and two piezoelectric thin films is discussed. It is assumed that piezoelectric layers with a thickness of 0.01 core are very thin and the properties of the matrix and reinforcement vary in the thickness directions. The governing equations of motion are obtained using an energy approach and the method of numerical differential quadrature to solve them. The results of this work are compared to other research and there is good agreement between them. The influences of the volumetric weight fraction of graphene wafers, different graphene platelets distributions, porosity distribution, mass scale parameters and thin ratio of graphene platelets take into account the natural dimensionless frequencies of the micro-beam. The results of this study show that the symmetric distribution of graphene platelets based on the symmetric porosity distribution has a great influence on the natural frequencies without basic dimension of the micro-beam, while the shape ratios of graphene platelets do not have a significant influence on natural frequency changes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.281-291
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• 2023

Due to the fact that the nonlinear low-velocity impact response of graphene platelets reinforced metal foams (GPLRMF) doubly curved shells have not been investigated in the existing works, this paper aims to solve this issue. Using Reddy's high-order shear deformation theory (HSDT), the nonlinear governing equations of GPLRMF doubly curved shells are obtained by Euler-Lagrange method, discretized by Galerkin principle, and solved by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method to obtain the impact force and central deflection. The nonlinear Hertz contact law is applied to determine the contact force. Finally, the impacts of graphene platelets (GPLs) distribution pattern, porosity distribution form, porosity coefficient, damping coefficient, impact parameters (radius and initial velocity), GPLs weight fraction, pre-stressing force and different shell types on the low-velocity impact curves are analyzed. It can be found that, among the four shell structures, the impact resistance of spherical shell is the best, while that of cylindrical shell is the worst.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.219-235
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• 2019

This research is devoted to analyzing mechanical-thermal post-buckling behavior of a micro-size beam reinforced with graphene platelets (GPLs) based on geometric imperfection effects. Graphene platelets have three types of dispersion within the structure including uniform-type, linear-type and nonlinear-type. The micro-size beam is considered to be perfect (ideal) or imperfect. Buckling mode shape of the micro-size beam has been assumed as geometric imperfection. Modified couple stress theory has been used for describing scale-dependent character of the beam having micro dimension. Via an analytical procedure, post-buckling path of the micro-size beam has been derived. It will be demonstrated that nonlinear buckling characteristics of the micro-size beam are dependent on geometric imperfection amplitude, thermal loading, graphene distribution and couple stress effects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.195-208
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• 2019

Based on a four-variable shear deformation shell theory, the free vibration analysis of functionally graded graphene platelet-reinforced composite (FGGPRC) doubly-curved shallow shells with different boundary conditions is investigated in this work. The doubly-curved shells are composed of multi nanocomposite layers that are reinforced with graphene platelets. The graphene platelets are uniformly distributed in each individual layer. While, the volume faction of the graphene is graded from layer to other in accordance with a novel distribution law. Based on the suggested distribution law, four types of FGGPRC doubly-curved shells are studied. The present shells are assumed to be rested on elastic foundations. The material properties of each layer are calculated using a micromechanical model. Four equations of motion are deduced utilizing Hamilton's principle and then converted to an eigenvalue problem employing an analytical method. The obtained results are checked by introducing some comparison examples. A detailed parametric investigation is performed to illustrate the influences of the distribution type of volume fraction, shell curvatures, elastic foundation stiffness and boundary conditions on the vibration of FGGPRC doubly-curved shells.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.255-271
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• 2018

This paper deals with the transient dynamic analysis and elastic wave propagation in a functionally graded graphene platelets (FGGPLs)-reinforced composite thick hollow cylinder, which is subjected to shock loading. A micromechanical model based on the Halpin-Tsai model and rule of mixture is modified for nonlinear functionally graded distributions of graphene platelets (GPLs) in polymer matrix of composites. The governing equations are derived for an axisymmetric FGGPLs-reinforced composite cylinder with a finite length and then solved using a hybrid meshless method based on the generalized finite difference (GFD) and Newmark finite difference methods. A numerical time discretization is performed for the dynamic problem using the Newmark method. The dynamic behaviors of the displacements and stresses are obtained and discussed in detail using the modified micromechanical model and meshless GFD method. The effects of the reinforcement of the composite cylinder by GPLs on the elastic wave propagations in both displacement and stress fields are obtained for various parameters. It is concluded that the proposed micromechanical model and also the meshless GFD method have a high capability to simulate the composite structures under shock loadings, which are reinforced by FGGPLs. It is shown that the modified micromechanical model and solution technique based on the meshless GFD method are accurate. Also, the time histories of the field variables are shown for various parameters.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.5
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• pp.645-654
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• 2023

Based on first-order shear deformation theory, a wave propagation model of graphene platelets reinforced metal foams (GPLRMFs) circular plates is built in this paper. The expressions of phase-/group- velocities and wave number are obtained by using Laplace integral transformation and Hankel integral transformation. The effects of GPLs pattern, foams distribution, GPLs weight fraction and foam coefficient on the phase and group velocity of GPLRMFs circular plates are discussed in detail. It can be inferred that GPLs distribution have great impacts on the wave propagation problems, and Porosity-I type distribution has the largest phase velocity and group velocity, followed by Porosity-III, and finally Porosity-II; With the increase of the GPLs weight fraction, the phase- and group- velocities for the GPLRMFs circular plate will be increased; With the increase of the foam coefficient, the phase- and group- velocities for the GPLRMFs circular plate will be decreased.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.331-349
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• 2022

In the present work, we proposed an analytical study on buckling behavior of a sandwich plate with polymeric core integrated with piezo-electro-magnetic layers such as BaTiO3 and CoFe2O4 reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs). The Halpin-Tsai micromechanics model is used to describe the properties of the polymeric core. The governing equations of equilibrium are obtained from first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and the Navier's method is employed to solve the equations. The results show the effect of different parameters such as thickness, length, weight fraction of GPLs, and also effect of electric and magnetic field on critical buckling load. The result of this study can be obtained in the aerospace industry and also in the design of sensors and actuators.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.711-727
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• 2020

In the present research, the free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) nanocomposite deep spherical shells reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs) on elastic foundation is performed. The elastic foundation is assumed to be Winkler-Past ernak-type. It is also assumed that graphaene platelets are randomly oriented and uniformly dispersed in each layer of the nanocomposite shell. Volume fraction of the graphene platelets as nanofillers may be different in the layers. The modified HalpinTsai model is used to approximate the effective mechanical properties of the multilayer nanocomposite. With the aid of the first order shear deformation shell theory and implementing Hamilton's principle, motion equations are derived. Afterwards, the generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is utilized to study the free vibration characteristics of FG-GPLRC spherical shell. To assess the validity and accuracy of the presented method, the results are compared with the available researches. Finally, the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes are provided for different boundary conditions, GPLs volume fraction, types of functionally graded, elastic foundation coefficients, opening angles of shell, and thickness-to-radius ratio.