Revolutionary advances in technology have led to the use of functionally graded nanocomposite structural elements that operate at high temperatures and whose properties depend on position, such as cylindrical shells designed as load-bearing elements. These advances in technology require new mathematical modeling and updated numerical calculations to be performed using improved theories at design time to reliably apply such elements. The main goal of this study is to model, mathematically and within an analytical solution, the thermoelastic stability problem of composite cylinders reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under a uniform thermal loading within the shear deformation theory (ST). The influence of transverse shear deformations is considered when forming the fundamental relations of CNT-patterned cylindrical shells and the basic partial differential equations (PDEs) are derived within the modified Donnell-type shell theory. The PDEs are solved by the Galerkin method, and the formula is found for the eigenvalue (critical temperature) of the functionally graded nanocomposite cylindrical shells. The influences of CNT patterns, volume fraction, and geometric parameters on the critical temperature within the ST are estimated by comparing the results within classical theory (CT).

This study presents the thermoelastic stability of carbon nanotube (CNT) patterned composite conical shells in the framework of shear deformation theory (ST). The study includes two different boundary value problems. As the material properties are independent of temperature, the truncated conical shell is assumed to be under thermal load, and when the material properties are temperature dependent, the conical shell is assumed to be under axial compressive load. The modified Donnell-type shell theory is used to derive the basic equations for CNT patterned truncated conical shells. The Galerkin method is applied to the basic equations to find the critical temperature and critical axial load expressions of CNT patterned composite truncated conical shells in the framework of ST. The effect of changes in CNT patterns, volume fraction, radius-to-thickness and length-to-thickness ratios, as well as the half-peak angle on critical parameters within the ST, are estimated by comparison with classical shell theory (CT).

In this work, we discuss the free vibration behavior of thin-walled composite shell structures reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a nonlinear setting and resting on a Winkler–Pasternak Foundation (WPF). The theoretical model and the differential equations associated with the problem account for different distributions of CNTs (with uniform or nonuniform linear patterns), together with the presence of an elastic foundation, and von-Karman type nonlinearities. The basic equations of the problem are solved by using the Galerkin and Grigolyuk methods, in order to determine the frequencies associated with linear and nonlinear free vibrations. The reliability of the proposed methodology is verified against further predictions from the literature. Then, we examine the model for the sensitivity of the vibration response to different input parameters, such as the mechanical properties of the soil, or the nonlinearities and distributions of the reinforcing CNT phase, as useful for design purposes and benchmark solutions for more complicated computational studies on the topic.

This study presents the solution for the thermal buckling problem of moderately thick laminated conical shells consisting of carbon nanotube (CNT) originating layers. It is assumed that the laminated truncated-conical shell is subjected to uniform temperature rise. The Donnell-type shell theory is used to derive the governing equations, and the Galerkin method is used to find the expression for the buckling temperature in the framework of shear deformation theories (STs). Different transverse shear stress functions, such as the parabolic transverse shear stress (Par-TSS), cosine-hyperbolic shear stress (Cos-Hyp-TSS), and uniform shear stress (U-TSS) functions are used in the analysis part. After validation of the formulation with respect to the existing literature, several parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influences of CNT patterns, number and arrangement of the layers on the uniform buckling temperature (UBT) using various transverse shear stress functions, and classical shell theory (CT).