Buckling Characteristics of Laminated Functionally-Graded CNT-Reinforced Composite Plate under Nonuniform Uniaxial and Biaxial In-Plane Edge Loads

In this paper, the buckling response of laminated functionally-graded CNT-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plate structure is predicted under various types of non-uniform edge compression loading. For the finite element (FE) discretization of the plate, a nine degree of freedom (DOFs)-type polynomial-based higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) is considered. The application of non-uniform edge load causes the in-plane stress distribution to be non-uniform. Hence, the in-plane stresses need to be evaluated prior to the buckling analysis. These in-plane stresses are calculated using the in-plane stress analysis method by FE approach or the in-plane elasticity approach. The differential equations are obtained by employing the Lagrange equation of motion and solved as a general eigenvalue problem, after the differential equations are converted into homogeneous equations by means of FE procedure. The accuracy and adaptability of the present model are validated by comparing the present result with the available literature. Further, the impact on the buckling response of the laminated FG-CNTRC plate is investigated by various parameters such as span thickness ratio, aspect ratio, various edge constraints, and different types of non-uniform edge load, CNT fiber gradation and temperature dependency material properties.