Thermal post-buckling of temperature dependent sandwich plates with FG-CNTRC face sheets

Present research investigates the thermal postbuckling of sandwich plates containing a stiff core and two thin carbon nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC) face sheets. Properties of the core, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polymeric matrix of the faces are assumed to be temperature-dependent. It is assumed that CNTs as reinforcements may be distributed according to a functionally graded pattern. Plate is formulated based on the first-order shear deformation theory and von Kármán type of geometrical nonlinearity. The governing equations are obtained by the energy method with the aid of the Conventional Ritz method. Shape functions of the Ritz method are estimated according to the Chebyshev polynomials. A set of nonlinear eigenvalue equations is achieved. The obtained equations are homogeneous, coupled, and nonlinear in terms of both displacements and temperature. A successive displacement control strategy is implemented to trace the thermal postbuckling equilibrium path of the plate. It is shown that, with increasing the volume fraction of CNT, critical buckling temperature of sandwich plate increases and postbuckling deflection decreases. Furthermore, through a functionally graded distribution of volume fraction of CNTs across the thickness, critical buckling temperature of the sandwich plate may be enhanced and thermal postbuckling deflection may be alleviated.