Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Composites: Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Thermal buckling and postbuckling behavior of functionally graded carbon

nanotube-reinforced composite cylindrical shells
Hui-Shen Shen ⇑
School of Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Thermal postbuckling analysis is presented for nanocomposite cylindrical shells reinforced by single-
Received 5 July 2011 walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) subjected to a uniform temperature rise. The SWCNTs are assumed
Received in revised form 27 August 2011 to be aligned and straight with a uniform layout. Two kinds of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite
Accepted 10 October 2011
(CNTRC) shells, namely, uniformly distributed (UD) and functionally graded (FG) reinforcements, are con-
Available online 18 October 2011
sidered. The material properties of FG-CNTRCs are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction, and
are estimated through a micromechanical model. The governing equations are based on a higher order
Keywords:
shear deformation theory with a von Kármán-type of kinematic nonlinearity. The thermal effects are also
B. Buckling
B. Thermal properties
included and the material properties of CNTRCs are assumed to be temperature-dependent. Based on the
C. Analytical modelling multi-scale approach, numerical illustrations are carried out for perfect and imperfect, FG- and UD-
Nanocomposite CNTRC shells under different values of the nanotube volume fractions. The results show that the buckling
temperature as well as thermal postbuckling strength of the shell can be increased as a result of a func-
tionally graded reinforcement. It is found that in most cases the CNTRC shell with intermediate nanotube
volume fraction does not have intermediate buckling temperature and initial thermal postbuckling
strength.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction continuum model based on the Mori–Tanaka approach. They found

A great deal of interest for the analysis of carbon nanotube-rein-
forced composite (CNTRC) structures is being manifested in the
specialized literature. This interest is mainly due to the advent of
the new composite material systems exhibiting exotic properties
as compared to the traditional, carbon fiber-reinforced composite
structures. Due to their very attractive thermo-mechanical proper-
ties these new materials are going to play a great role in the con-
struction of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and
Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) [1,2].
Several investigations of CNTRC beam and plate structures sub-
jected to mechanical loading are available in the literature. Among
those, Wuite and Adali [3] found that the stiffness of CNTRC beams
can be increased significantly by the homogeneous dispersion of a
small percentage of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Vodenitcharova and
Zhang [4] investigated the pure bending and bending-induced local
buckling of CNTRC beams. Formica et al. [5] presented the
vibration behavior of CNTRC plates by employing an equivalent
⇑ Address: School of Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China.
E-mail address: hsshen@sjtu.edu.cn
that the improvement achieves a maximum when the carbon
nanotubes are uniformly aligned with the loading direction. How-
ever, the experimental and numerical studies concerning CNTRCs
have shown that distributing CNTs uniformly as the reinforce-
ments in the matrix can only achieve moderate improvement of
the mechanical properties [6,7]. This is mainly due to the weak
interface between the CNTs and the matrix where a significant
material property mismatch exists. As is well known, in contrast
to their carbon fiber-reinforced counterparts, these advanced com-
posite material structures exhibit low percentage of CTNs (2–5% by
weight) [8–11], and therefore, in their modeling the concept of
functionally graded materials might be incorporated. Shen [12]
studied the nonlinear bending behavior of CNTRC plates and found
that the load-bending moment curves of the plates can be consid-
erably improved through the use of a functionally graded distribu-
tion of CNTs in the matrix. Applying the concept of functionally
graded materials to the nanocomposites, Shen and his co-authors
[13,14] studied compressive postbuckling and thermal postbuck-
ling strength of CNTRC plates under a low nanotube volume frac-
tion. They found that in some cases the CNTRC plate with
intermediate CNT volume fraction does not have intermediate
buckling temperature and initial thermal postbuckling strength

1359-8368/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2011.10.004
 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038 1031

[14]. Moreover, Ke et al. [15] investigated the nonlinear free vibra-
tion of functionally graded CNTRC Timoshenko beams. They found
that both linear and nonlinear frequencies of functionally graded
CNTRC beams with symmetrical distribution of CNTs are higher
than those of beams with uniform or unsymmetrical distribution
of CNTs. Recently, a large amplitude vibration analysis of CNTRC
plates resting on an elastic foundation of Pasternak-type was car-
ried out by Wang and Shen [16].
Also recently, the postbuckling behaviors of CNTRC cylindrical
shells subjected to either axial compression or lateral pressure in
thermal environments were studied by Shen [17,18]. In the present
work, we focus our attention on thermal postbuckling behavior of
CNTRC cylindrical shells with temperature-dependent properties.
Unlike the carbon fiber-reinforced composites, the CNTRCs usually
have a lower volume fraction of CNTs due to the fact that their
mechanical properties will deteriorate if the volume fraction in-
creases beyond certain limit [19]. The material properties of
CNTRCs are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction, and
are estimated through a micromechanical model in which the
CNT efficiency parameter is estimated by matching the elastic
modulus of CNTRCs observed from the molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation results with the numerical results obtained from the
extended rule of mixture. The governing equations are based on
a higher order shear deformation shell theory with a von
Kármán-type of kinematic nonlinearity and include thermal ef-
fects. The nonlinear prebuckling deformations and initial geomet-
ric imperfections of the shell are both taken into account. A
singular perturbation technique is employed to determine the
buckling temperature and thermal postbuckling load–deflection
curves.
effects, etc.). Hence, we introduce the CNT efficiency parameter
gj(j = 1, 2, 3) into Eq. (1) to consider the small scale effect and other
effects on the material properties of CNTRCs. The values of gj will
be determined later by matching the elastic moduli of CNTRCs pre-
dicted by the MD simulations with the prediction of the extended
rule of mixture in Eq. (1).
The material properties of functionally graded ceramic–metal
materials vary continuously from one surface to the other and,
therefore, the volume fractions of the constituents may follow a
simple power law [24,25]. In contrast, for functionally graded fi-
ber-reinforced composites, to avoid abrupt change of the material
properties, only linear distribution can readily be achieved in prac-
tice. For example, a functionally graded CNT reinforced aluminum
matrix composite was recently fabricated by a powder metallurgy
route [26].
Three types of FG-CNTRC shells are configurated. For Type V, the
outer surface (Z = h/2) of the shell is CNT-rich, referred to as FG-V.
For Type K, the distribution of CNT reinforcements is inversed and
the inner surface (Z = h/2) of the shell is CNT-rich, referred to as FG-
K. For Type X, a mid-plane symmetric graded distribution of CNT
reinforcements is achieved and both outer and inner surfaces are
CNT-rich, referred to as FG-X. Consequently, we assume the vol-
ume fraction VCN for the top layer of the CNTRC shell of type X fol-
lows as
 
t1  Z
V CN ¼ 2 V CN ð2aÞ
t1  t0
and for the bottom layer of the CNTRC shell of type X follows as
 
Z  t1
V CN ¼ 2 V CN ð2bÞ
t2  t1

2. Material properties of functionally graded CNTRCs in which Z = t0 = h/2, Z = t2 = h/2 and

wCN
V CN ¼ ð2cÞ
We assume that an CNTRC layer is made of a mixture of wCN þ ðqCN =qm Þ  ðqCN =qm ÞwCN
SWCNTs and the matrix which is assumed to be isotropic. The
where wCN is the mass fraction of nanotube, and qCN and qm are the
SWCNT reinforcement is either uniformly distributed (UD) or func-
densities of carbon nanotube and matrix, respectively. It is evident
tionally graded (FG) in the thickness direction. At the nanoscale,
that when Z = h/2 (outer surface) V CN ¼ 2V CN , and when Z = t1
the structure of the carbon nanotube strongly influences the over-
(middle surface) VCN = 0. In such a way, the two cases of uniformly
all properties of the composite. Several micromechanical models
distributed (UD), i.e. V CN ¼ V CN , and functionally graded (FG)
have been developed to predict the effective material properties
CNTRCs will have the same value of mass fraction of nanotube.
of CNTRCs, e.g. Mori–Tanaka scheme [6,20] and the rule of mixture
The thermal expansion coefficients in the longitudinal and
[21,22]. The Mori–Tanaka scheme is applicable to microparticles
transverse directions can be expressed by the Shapery model [27]
and the rule of mixture is simple and convenient to apply for pre-
dicting the overall material properties and responses of the CNTRC V CN ECN CN m m
11 a11 þ V m E a
structures. The accuracy of the rule of mixture was discussed and a a11 ¼ ð3aÞ
V CN ECN
11 þ V m E
m
remarkable synergism between the Mori–Tanaka scheme and the
rule of mixture for functionally graded ceramic–metal beams was a22 ¼ ð1 þ mCN CN m m
12 ÞV CN a22 þ ð1 þ m ÞV m a  m12 a11 ð3bÞ
reported in [23]. According to the extended rule of mixture, the where a CN m
a and a are thermal expansion coefficients, and mCN
CN
11 ; 22 12
effective Young’s modulus and shear modulus can be expressed and mm are Poisson’s ratios, respectively, of carbon nanotube and
as [12] matrix. Note that a11 and a22 are also graded in the thickness direc-
tion. Furthermore, we assume that the material properties of the
E11 ¼ g1 V CN ECN
11 þ V m E
m
ð1aÞ CNTs and the matrix are temperature dependant. Thus, the effective
g2 V CN V m material properties of FG-CNTRCs, such as Young’s modulus, shear
¼ þ m ð1bÞ
E22 ECN22
E modulus and thermal expansion coefficients, are functions of tem-
g3 V CN Vm perature and position. Accordingly, the effective Poisson’s ratio de-
¼ þ ð1cÞ pends weakly on temperature change and position and is expressed
G12 GCN
12
Gm
as
CN
where ECN CN
11 ; E22 and G12 are the Young’s and shear moduli of the m12 ¼ V CN mCN m
12 þ V m m ð4Þ
CNT, Em and Gm are the corresponding properties for the matrix,
and the gj(j = 1, 2, 3) are the CNT efficiency parameters, respec-
tively. In addition, VCN and Vm are the volume fractions of the CNT 3. Multi-scale model for functionally graded CNTRC shells under
and the matrix, which satisfy the relationship of VCN + Vm = 1. thermal loading
As mentioned previously [6,7], the load transfer between the
nanotube and polymeric phases is less than perfect (e.g. the surface Consider an CNTRC cylindrical shell with mean radius R, length
effects, strain gradients effects, intermolecular coupled stress L and thickness h. The shell is referred to a coordinate system
1032 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038

2 3 2 32 3
(X, Y, Z) in which X and Y are in the axial and circumferential direc- Ax Q 11 Q 12 Q 16 1 0 
tions of the shell and Z is in the direction of the inward normal to 6 7 6 76 7 a11
4 Ay 5 ¼ 4 Q 12 Q 22 Q 26 54 0 1 5 ð10Þ
the middle surface. The corresponding displacements are desig- a22
Axy Q 16 Q 26 Q 66 0 0
nated by U; V and W. Wx and Wy are the rotations of the normals
to the middle surface with respect to the Y and X axes, respectively. where a11 and a22 are the thermal expansion coefficients measured
The origin of the coordinate system is located at the end of the in the longitudinal and transverse directions, in particular for an
shell on the middle plane. The shell is assumed to be geometrically CNTRC layer they are given in detail in Eq. (3) and Q ij are the trans-
imperfect, and is subjected to a uniform temperature rise. formed elastic constants with details being given in [28]. Note that
Denoting the initial geometric imperfection by W  (X, Y), let for an FG-CNTRC layer, Q ij ¼ Q ij in which
F(X, Y) be the stress function for the stress resultants defined by
N x ¼ F;YY ; N y ¼ F;XX and N xy ¼ F;XY , where a comma denotes E11 E22 m21 E11
Q 11 ¼ ; Q 22 ¼ ; Q 12 ¼ ;
partial differentiation with respect to the corresponding 1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21 ð11Þ
coordinates. Q 16 ¼ Q 26 ¼ 0; Q 44 ¼ G23 ; Q 55 ¼ G13 ; Q 66 ¼ G12
Based on Sanders shell theory, Reddy and Liu [28] developed a
simple higher order shear deformation shell theory. This theory where E11, E22, G12, m12 and m21 are the effective Young’s and shear
assumes that the transverse shear strains are parabolically dis- moduli and Poisson’s ratio of the FG-CNTRC layer, respectively. They
tributed across the shell thickness. The advantages of this theory are derived from the corresponding properties of the CNT and the
over the first order shear deformation theory are that the number matrix by the use of a micromechanical model as described in

of independent unknowns U; V; W , Wx and Wy is the same as Section 2.
in the first order shear deformation theory, and no shear correc- The two end edges of the shell are assumed to be simply sup-
tion factors are required. Based on Reddy’s higher order shear ported (SS) or clamped (CC), and to be restrained against expansion
deformation theory with a von Kármán-type of kinematic nonlin- longitudinally (i.e. prevented from moving in the axial direction)
earity and including thermal effects, the governing differential while temperature is increased steadily, so that the boundary con-
equations for an FG-CNTRC cylindrical shell can be derived in ditions are X = 0, L:
terms of a stress function F, two rotations Wx and Wy , and a trans-
verse displacement W, along with the initial geometric imperfec- W ¼ U ¼ Wy ¼ 0; M x ¼ Px ¼ 0ðSSÞ ð12aÞ
tion W  . They are W ¼ U ¼ Wx ¼ Wy ¼ 0ðCCÞ ð12bÞ

            1 where M x is the bending moment and Px the higher-order moment

e
L 11 W  e
L 12 Wx  e L 14 F  e
L 13 Wy þ e L 15 NT  e
L 16 MT  F ;xx
R as defined in [28]. Also, we have the closed (or periodicity)
  condition
¼e
L W þ W; F ð5Þ
Z 2pR
          1 @V
e dY ¼ 0 ð13aÞ
L 21 F þ e L 22 Wx þ eL 23 Wy  eL 24 W  e L 25 NT þ W ;xx 0 @Y
R
1 e 
 or
¼  L W þ 2W ; W ð6Þ
2 Z 2pR "   !
@2F 4 @2F @ Wx
            A22 2
þ A12
þ B21  2 E21 2
e
L 31 W þ e L 32 Wx  eL 33 Wy þ eL 34 F  e
L 35 NT  e
L 36 ST ¼ 0 0 @X @Y 3h @X
  !
2 2
ð7Þ  4  @ Wy 4  @ W  @ W
þ B22  2 E22  2 E21 þ E22
  3h @Y 3h @X 2 @Y 2
          !2 3
e
L 41 W  e
L 42 Wx þ e L 44 F  e
L 43 Wy þ e L 45 NT  e
L 46 ST ¼ 0
W 1 @W @W @W    T 
þ    A12 Nx þ A22 NTy 5 dY ¼ 0

ð13bÞ
ð8Þ R 2 @Y @Y @Y

Note that the geometric nonlinearity in the von Kármán sense is Because of Eq. (13), the in-plane boundary condition V ¼ 0 (at
given in terms of e LðÞ in Eqs. (5) and (6), and the other linear X = 0, L) is not needed in Eq. (12).
operators e L ij ðÞ are defined as in [17]. It is worthy to note that The average end-shortening relationship is defined as
the governing differential Eqs. (5)–(8) for an FG-CNTRC cylindrical
Z 2pR Z L Z 2pR
shell are identical in form to those of unsymmetric cross-ply lam- Dx 1 @U 1
inated shells. ¼  dXdY ¼ 
L 2pRL 0 0 @X 2pRL 0
In the above equations, N T ; M T ; ST , and P T are the forces, mo- Z L" 2 2
!  
@ F @ F 4 @ Wx
ments and higher order moments caused by elevated temperature, A11 2 þ A12 2 þ B11  2 E11
and are defined by 0 @Y @X 3h @X
  !
2 3 2 2
23  4  @ Wy 4  @ W  @ W
NTx M Tx PTx Z Ax þ B12  2 E12  2 E11 þ E12
6 T 7 h=2
6 7 3h @Y 3h @X 2 @Y 2
6 Ny M Ty PTy 7 3
4 Ay 5ð1; Z; Z ÞDT dZ 3
4 5¼ ð9aÞ !2
N Txy M Txy PTxy
h=2
Axy 1 @W @W @W 
   ðA11 NTx þ A12 NTy Þ5 dX dY ð14Þ
2 @X @X @X
2 3 2 3 2 3
STx MTx PTx
6 T 7 6 T 7 4 6 T 7 where Dx is the shell end-shortening displacement in the X-direc-
6 Sy 7 ¼ 6 M y 7  6P 7 ð9bÞ
4 5 4 5 24 y 5 tion and should be zero valued due to U ¼ 0 at X = 0 and L.
T
3h
T
Sxy Mxy PTxy In the above equations, the reduced stiffness matrices
h i h i h i h i h i h i

where DT = T  T0 is the temperature rise from some reference tem- Aij ; Bij ; Dij ; Eij ; F ij and Hij are functions of temperature
perature T0 at which there are no thermal strains, and and position, determined through relationship
 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038 1033

A ¼ A1 ; B ¼ A1 B; D ¼ D  BA1 B; and the closed condition of Eq. (13b) becomes
 1  1  1 Z 2p " 2 2
!  
E ¼ A E; F ¼ F  EA B; H ¼ H  EA E ð15Þ @ F 2@ F @ Wx @ Wy
 c 5 b þ c24 c220 þ c522 b
where Aij, Bij, etc., are the shell stiffnesses, defined by 0 @x2 @y2 @x @y
Z !  2
h=2   @2W 2
2@ W 1 2 @W
ðAij ; Bij ; Dij ; Eij ; F ij ; Hij Þ ¼ Q ij ð1; Z; Z 2 ; Z 3 ; Z 4 ; Z 6 Þ dZ ec24 c240 þ c622 b þ c24 W  c b
h=2 @x2 @y2 2 24 @y

ði; j ¼ 1; 2; 6Þ ð16aÞ @W @W
c24 b2 þ eðcT2  c5 cT1 ÞkT dy ¼ 0 ð25Þ
@y @y
Z h=2  
ðAij ; Dij ; F ij Þ ¼ Q ij ð1; Z 2 ; Z 4 Þ dZ ði; j ¼ 4; 5Þ ð16bÞ It has been shown [29] that the effect of the boundary layer on
h=2 the solution of a heated shell is of the order e1, hence the unit end-
shortening relationship may be written in dimensionless form as
Z 2p Z p " !
4. Solution methodology 1 1 2 2 @2F @2F
dx ¼  e c24 b  c5 2
4p2 c24 0 0 @y2 @x
Having developed the theory, we are now in a position to solve   !
Eqs. (5)–(8) with boundary condition (12). Before proceeding, it is @ Wx @ Wy @2W 2
2@ W
þ c24 c511 þ c233 b  ec24 c611 þ c244 b
convenient first to define the following dimensionless quantities @x @y @x2 @y2
(with cijk in Eqs. (25) and (26) below being defined as in Shen [29])  2 #

1 @W @W @W  
X Y L L2  c24  c24 þ e c224 cT1  c5 cT2 kT dx dy
x¼p ; y¼ ; b¼ ; Z¼ ; 2 @x @x @x
L R pR Rh
2
 ð26Þ
pR ðW; W  Þ
e ¼ 2 D11 D22 A11 A22 1=4 ; ðW; W  Þ ¼ e
    1=4 ;
L D11 D22 A11 A22 In Eq. (17), we introduce an important parameter e. As has been
shown [29], in practice, the shell structure will have Z P10, so that
F L ðWx ; Wy Þ
F ¼ e2
1=2 ; ðWx ; Wy Þ ¼ e2 ; we always have e  1. When e < 1, Eqs. (20)–(23) are of the bound-
D11 D22 p
D11 D22 A11 A22 1=4 ary layer type and may then be solved by means of a singular per-
 1=2  1=2 turbation technique. The essence of this procedure, in the present
D22 A11 A12
c14 ¼ ; c24 ¼ ; c5 ¼  ; case, is to assume that
D11 A22 A22
   A A 1=4 W ¼ wðx; y; eÞ þ W f ðx; n; y; eÞ þ Wc ðx; f; y; eÞ
ðcT1 ; cT2 Þ ¼ ATx ; ATy R 11 22
;
D11 D22 e b
F ¼ f ðx; y; eÞ þ F ðx; n; y; eÞ þ F ðx; f; y; eÞ
  ð27Þ
L2 1 4 e x ðx; n; y; eÞ þ W
Wx ¼ wx ðx; y; eÞ þ W b x ðx; f; y; eÞ
ðMx ; Px Þ ¼ e2
 M x ; P x ;
p 2
D11 D11 D22 A11 A22
1=4
3h
2
e y ðx; n; y; eÞ þ W
b y ðx; f; y; eÞ
  Wy ¼ wy ðx; y; eÞ þ W
Dx R
dx ¼
 ; k T ¼ a 0 DT ð17Þ where e is a small perturbation parameter (provided Z > 2:96) as
L 2 D D A A 1=4
11 22 11 22 defined in Eq. (17) and w(x, y, e), f(x, y, e), wx(x, y, e), and wy
where a0 is an arbitrary reference value, and (x, y, e) are called the regular solutions of the shell.
f ðx; n; y; eÞ; e
W F ðx; n; y; eÞ; W e x ðx; n; y; eÞ; W c ðx; f; y;
e y ðx; n; y; eÞ and W
a11 ¼ a11 a0 ; a22 ¼ a22 a0 ð18Þ
eÞ; bF ðx; f; y; eÞ; Wb x ðx; f; y; eÞ; Wb y ðx; f; y; eÞ are the boundary layer
Also let solutions near the x = 0 and x = p edges, respectively, and n and f
" # Z 
ATx h=2
Ax are the boundary layer variables, defined by
¼ dZ ð19Þ pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
ATy h=2 Ay n ¼ x= e; f ¼ ðp  xÞ= e ð28Þ
This means that for homogeneous isotropic
pffiffiffiffiffiffi cylindrical shells, the
It is noted that from Eq. (9) the thermal force are zero-val- N Txy
width of the boundary layers is of order Rh. In Eq. (27) the regular
ued, and for a uniform temperature field the thermal moments are
and boundary layer solutions are taken in the forms of perturbation
also zero-valued. Then the nonlinear Eqs. (5)–(8) may be written in
expansions as
dimensionless form as X
e2 L11 ðWÞ  eL12 ðWx Þ  eL13 ðWy Þ þ ec14 L14 ðFÞ  c14 F;xx wðx; y; eÞ ¼ ej wj ðx; yÞ;
j¼1
X
¼ c14 b2 LðW þ W  ; FÞ ð20Þ f ðx; y; eÞ ¼ ej fj ðx; yÞ
j¼0
L21 ðFÞ þ c24 L22 ðWx Þ þ c24 L23 ðWy Þ  ec24 L24 ðWÞ þ c24 W;xx X ð29aÞ
wx ðx; y; eÞ ¼ ej ðwx Þj ðx; yÞ;
1 j¼1
¼  c24 b2 LðW þ 2W  ; WÞ ð21Þ X
2 wy ðx; y; eÞ ¼ ej ðwy Þj ðx; yÞ
j¼1
eL31 ðWÞ þ L32 ðWx Þ  L33 ðWy Þ þ c14 L34 ðFÞ ¼ 0 ð22Þ
X
f ðx; n; y; eÞ ¼
W f jþ1 ðx; n; yÞ;
ejþ1 W
eL41 ðWÞ  L42 ðWx Þ þ L43 ðWy Þ þ c14 L44 ðFÞ ¼ 0 ð23Þ
j¼0
where all the dimensionless operators Lij() and L() are defined as in X
e
F ðx; n; y; eÞ ¼ ejþ2 eF jþ2 ðx; n; yÞ
[17]. j¼0
The boundary conditions of Eq. (12) become X
e x ðx; n; y; eÞ ¼ e xÞ
ejþ3=2 ð W
x = 0, p:
W jþ3=2 ðx; n; yÞ;
j¼0
X
W ¼ dx ¼ Wy ¼ 0; Mx ¼ Px ¼ 0ðSSÞ ð24aÞ e y ðx; n; y; eÞ ¼
W e y Þ ðx; n; yÞ
ejþ2 ð W ð29bÞ
jþ2
W ¼ dx ¼ Wx ¼ Wy ¼ 0ðCCÞ ð24bÞ j¼0
1034 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038

X  2
c ðx; f; y; eÞ ¼
W c jþ1 ðx; f; yÞ;
ejþ1 W ð3Þ y ð3Þ ð2Þ
þ e3 B00 þ B02 cos 2ny þ A02 ðcos 2nyÞ
j¼0 2
X    
b
F ðx; f; y; eÞ ¼ ejþ2 bF jþ2 ðx; f; yÞ ð3Þ x ð3Þ x x ð2Þ
 b01 cos / pffiffiffi þ b10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi þ A02 ðcos 2nyÞ
j¼0
ð29cÞ
e e e
X    
b x ðx; f; y; eÞ ¼
W b xÞ
ejþ3=2 ð W jþ3=2 ðx; f; yÞ;
ð3Þ p  x ð3Þ px px
 b01 cos / pffiffiffi þ b10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi
j¼0 e e e
X 
b y ðx; f; y; eÞ ¼
W b y Þ ðx; f; yÞ
ejþ2 ð W 4 ð4Þ y
2
ð4Þ ð4Þ ð4Þ
jþ2 þ e B00 þ B20 cos 2mx þ B02 cos 2ny þ B13 sin mx sin 3ny
j¼0 2
As in the case of axial compression, the large deflection solution þ Oðe5 Þ ð34Þ
of homogeneous isotropic cylindrical shells may be expressed by   
[30] x x
Wx ¼ e3=2 Að1Þ ð3=2Þ
00 c 10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi
W ¼ A0 þ A1 sin mx sin ny þ A2 ðcos 2mx þ cos 2nyÞ ð30aÞ
e e
  h i
ð1Þ ð3=2Þ px px ð2Þ
or [31] þ A00 c10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi þ e2 C 11 cos mx sin ny
e e
  
W ¼ A0 þ A1 sin mx sin ny þ A2 cos 2mx þ A3 cos 2ny ð30bÞ ð2Þ ð5=2Þ x x
þ e5=2 A02 ðcos 2nyÞc10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi
e e
It is worthy to note that the solution of Eq. (30) does not satisfy  
either simply supported or clamped boundary conditions, and ð2Þ ð5=2Þ px px
þ A02 ðcos 2nyÞc10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi
therefore, the boundary layer theory and the associated singular e e
h
ð3Þ ð4Þ ð4Þ
perturbation method are required. In the present case, we assume þ e3 ½C 11 cos mx sin ny þ e4 C 11 cos mx sin ny þ C 20 sin 2mx
the initial buckling mode has the form i
ð4Þ
þ C 13 cos mx sin 3ny þ Oðe5 Þ ð35Þ
ð2Þ ð2Þ ð2Þ
w2 ðx; yÞ ¼ A00 þ A11 sin mx sin ny þ A02 cos 2ny ð31Þ
h
and the initial geometric imperfection is assumed to have the form Wy ¼ e2 ½Dð2Þ 3 ð3Þ ð3Þ
11 sin mx cos ny þ e D11 sin mx cos ny þ D02 sin 2ny
ð2Þ   
W  ðx; y; eÞ ¼ e2 a11 sin mx sin ny ¼ e2 lA11 sin mx sin ny ð32Þ ð2Þ ð3Þ x ð3Þ x
 A02 2nb sin 2nyÞ d01 cos / pffiffiffi þ d10 sin / pffiffiffi
ð2Þ
where l ¼ a11 =A11 is the imperfection parameter.
e e
  
All of the major steps of the solution methodology will be de-
x ð2Þ ð3Þ px
 exp # pffiffiffi  ðA02 2nb sin 2nyÞ d01 cos / pffiffiffi
scribed below, the details may be found in [29]. e e
   h
Firstly, the assumed solution forms of Eqs. (27)–(29) are substi- ð3Þ p  x p  x ð4Þ
þ d10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi þ e4 D11 sin mx cos ny
tuted into Eqs. (20)–(23) to obtain three sets of perturbation equa- e e
i
tions by collecting the terms of the same order of e. ð4Þ ð4Þ
þ D02 sin 2ny þ D13 sin mx cos 3ny þ Oðe5 Þ ð36Þ
Secondly, Eqs. (31) and (32) are used to solve these perturbation
equations of each order step by step. At each step the amplitudes of Note that, because of Eq. (33), the prebuckling deformation of
the terms wj(x, y), fj(x, y), wxj(x, y), and wyj(x, y) can be determined. the shell is nonlinear, and all of the coefficients in Eqs. (33)–(36)
Substituting these solved functions back into Eq. (29a), we obtain ð2Þ
are related and can be expressed in terms of A11 , but for the sake
the regular solutions of the shell. of brevity the detailed expressions are not shown, whereas # and
Then by matching the regular solutions with the boundary layer / are given in detail in Appendix A.
solutions at the each end of the shell, we obtain the asymptotic Next, upon substitution of Eqs. (33)–(36) into the boundary
solutions satisfying the clamped boundary conditions: condition dx = 0 and into closed condition (25), the thermal post-
     buckling equilibrium path can be written as
ð1Þ ð1Þ ð1Þ x ð1Þ x x
W ¼ e A00  A00 a01 cos / pffiffiffi þ a10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi   2  4
e e e ð0Þ ð2Þ ð2Þ ð4Þ ð2Þ
    kT ¼ C 11 kT  kT A11 e þ kT A11 e þ    ð37Þ
ð1Þ ð1Þ p  x ð1Þ px px
 A00 a01 cos / pffiffiffi þ a10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi  
e e e ð2Þ
In Eq. (37), A11 e is taken as the second perturbation parameter
h
2 ð2Þ ð2Þ ð2Þ
þ e A11 sin mx sin ny þ A02 cos 2ny  A02 ðcos 2nyÞ relating to the dimensionless maximum deflection. From Eq. (33),
    by taking (x, y) = (p/2m, p/2n), one has
ð1Þ x ð1Þ x x ð2Þ
 a01 cos / pffiffiffi þ a10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi  A02 ðcos 2nyÞ
e e e ð2Þ
A11 e ¼ W m  H3 W 2m þ    ð38aÞ
   
ð1Þ p  x ð1Þ px px
 a01 cos / pffiffiffi þ a10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi where Wm is the dimensionless form of the maximum deflection of
e e e the shell that can be written as
h i
ð3Þ ð3Þ
þ e3 A11 sin mx sin ny þ A02 cos 2ny " #
h 1 h W
ð4Þ ð4Þ ð4Þ ð4Þ Wm ¼
 þ H4 ð38bÞ
þ e4 A00 þ A11 sin mx sin ny þ A20 cos 2mx þ A02 cos 2ny C 3 D D A A 1=4 h
11 22 11 22
i
ð4Þ ð4Þ
þ A13 sin mx sin 3ny þ A04 cos 4ny þ Oðe5 Þ ð33Þ All symbols used in Eqs. (37) and (38) are also described in de-
ðiÞ
tail in Appendix A. It is noted that kT (i = 0, 2, . . .) are all functions
  of temperature and position.
ð0Þ y2 ð1Þ y
2
ð2Þ y
2
ð2Þ
F ¼  B00 þ e B00 þ e2 B00 þ B11 sin mx sin ny The perturbation scheme described presented here is quite
2 2 2
    different from the traditional one [32,33], where the small
ð1Þ ð2Þ x ð2Þ x x
þ A00 b01 cos / pffiffiffi þ b10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi perturbation parameter is defined by normalizing the maximum
e e e central deflection of the shell W m by the shell thickness h, such
   
ð1Þ ð2Þ p  x ð2Þ px px as, e ¼ W m =h. Generally, we need e < 1in the regular perturbation
þ A00 b01 cos / pffiffiffi þ b10 sin / pffiffiffi exp # pffiffiffi
e e e technique. It is worth noting that e is no longer a small
 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038 1035

perturbation parameter in the deep postbuckling region when the [8], as previously reported in [14,17]. For example, g1 = 0.137,
shell deflection is sufficiently large, i.e. W m =h > 1, and in such a g2 = 1.022 and g3 = 0.715 for the case of V CN ¼ 0:12, and
case the solution may be invalid. Contrast to the tradition pertur- g1 = 0.142, g2 = 1.626 and g3 = 1.138 for the case of V CN ¼ 0:17,
bation scheme, the present work avoids the paradox by a two step and g1 = 0.141, g2 = 1.585 and g3 = 1.109 for the case of
perturbation scheme where e is  definitely
 a small perturbation V CN ¼ 0:28. These values will be used in all the following examples,
ð1Þ
parameter in the first step and A11 e in the second step may be in which we assume that G13 = G12 and G23 = 1.2 G12 [9].
large in the postbuckling region. As part of the validation of the present method, the buckling
temperature for a functionally graded Si3N4/SUS304 cylindrical
shell subjected to a uniform temperature rise are calculated and
5. Numerical results and discussion
are compared in Table 2 with author’s previous results [24], and
the Galerkin method results of Mirzavand and Eslami [40] based
Numerical results are presented in this section for perfect and
on the classical thin shell theory. The shell geometric parameters
imperfect, CNTRC cylindrical shells subjected to a uniform temper-
are taken as R/h = 400, Z ¼ 300 and h = 1 mm and the material
ature rise. We first need to determine the effective material prop-
properties are assumed to be nonlinear functions of temperature,
erties of CNTRCs. Poly (methyl methacrylate), referred to as PMMA,
as reported in [24]. In Table 2 TD represents both elastic constants
is selected for the matrix, and the material properties of which are
and thermal expansion coefficients are temperature-dependent
assumed to be mm = 0.34, am = 45  (1 + 0.0005DT)  106/K and
and TID represents both elastic constants and thermal expansion
Em = (3.52  0.0034T) GPa, in which T = T0 + DT and T0 = 300 K
coefficients are temperature-independent. It can be seen that the
(room temperature). In such a way, am = 45.0  106/K and
results presented are compared reasonably well with, but lower
Em = 2.5 GPa at T = 300 K. The (10, 10) SWCNTs are selected as rein-
than those of Mirzavand and Eslami [40] when the temperature-
forcements. Han and Elliott [10] chose ECN 11 ¼ 600 GPa,
CN dependent material properties are taken into account.
ECN CN
22 ¼ 10 GPa, G12 ¼ 17:2 GPa and m12 ¼ 0:19 for (10, 10) SWCNTs. A parametric study has been carried out and typical results are
Such a low value of Young’s modulus is due to the fact that the
shown in Tables 3 and 4 and Figs. 1–4. For these examples, the thin
effective thickness of CNTs is assumed to be 0.34 nm or more
shell has h = 1.0 mm and R/h = 100, while the shear deformable
[34]. However, as reported recently the effective thickness of
shell has h = 1.0 mm and R/h = 30. The shell geometric parameter
SWCNTs should be smaller than 0.142 nm [35]. Therefore, all mate-
Z( = L2/Rh) is taken to be 100, 300 and 500. Three types of FG-
rial properties and effective thickness of SWCNTs used for analysis
CNTRC shells, i.e. FG-V, FG-K and FG-X, are considered. An UD-
will be re-examined and properly chosen in the present paper by
CNTRC cylindrical shell with the same thickness, referred to as
MD simulations. In our MD simulations, the long-range van der
UD, is also considered as a comparator.
Waals interaction is modeled by the much applied Lennard–Jones
Tables 3 and 4 present the buckling temperature Tcr (in K) for
12–6 potential ELJ given as ELJ = A/r12  C/r6 [36], where r is the dis-
perfect, thin and shear deformable cylindrical shells with three
tance between two nonbonding atoms, constants A = 24,086 eV Å12
types of FG-CNTRCs subjected to a uniform temperature rise. The
and C = 15 eV Å6 are fitted to reproduce the structural properties of
results for an UD-CNTRC cylindrical shell are also listed for direct
graphite. To account for the thermal effect, we use the Nose–Hoo-
comparisons. Three different values of the nanotube volume frac-
ver thermostat [37] to maintain the temperature of the system.
tion V CN ¼ 0:12, 0.17 and 0.28 are taken into account. Correspond-
This thermostat provides good conservation of energy and lead
ingly, the CNT mass fractions are wCN = 0.142, 0.2 and 0.321,
to less fluctuation in temperature. To begin the MD calculation,
respectively, by taking the density of carbon nanotube
the nanotube considered is initially optimized and freely relaxed
qCN = 1.4 g/cm3 and the density of matrix qm = 1.15 g/cm3 in Eq.
to reach the minimum-energy configurations. More details may
(2c). The buckling temperature is determined by applying Eq.
be found in our previous works [38]. Typical results are listed in
(37) for various values of the buckling mode (m, n), which deter-
Table 1 [14]. These results confirm that the material properties of
mine the number of half-waves in the X direction and of full waves
CNTs are size-dependent and temperature-dependent. It is noted
in the Y direction. Note that since the material properties are as-
that the effective wall thickness obtained for (10, 10)-tube is
sumed to be temperature-dependent, an iterative numerical proce-
h = 0.067 nm, which satisfies the Vodenitcharova–Zhang criterion
dure is necessary, as previously reported in [24,25]. Like in the case
[35], and the wide used value of 0.34 nm for tube wall thickness
of axial compression, the buckling temperature of the shell of FG-X
is thoroughly inappropriate for SWCNTs.
type can be increased compared to those of the UD-CNTRC cylin-
The key issue for successful application of the extended rule of
drical shell. However, the increment is much less than that of the
mixture to CNTRCs is to determine the CNT efficiency parameter gj
same shell under axial compression [17]. For example, the percent-
(j = 1, 2, 3). For short fiber composites g1 is usually taken to be 0.2
age increase is about 2.7–4.2% for the thin shell and is about 3.8–
[39]. However, there are no experiments conducted to determine
8.2% for the shear deformable shell with V CN ¼ 0:28, as shown in
the value of gj for CNTRCs. In present study, we give the estimation
the brackets. Unlike in the case of axial compression, the shell with
of CNT efficiency parameters g1, g2 and g3 by matching the Young’s
moduli E11 and E22 and shear modulus G12 of CNTRCs predicted
from the extended rule of mixture to those from the MD simula-
Table 2
tions given by Han and Elliott [10] and Griebel and Hamaekers
Comparison of buckling temperature DTcr (in K) for perfect functionally graded Si3N4/
SUS304 cylindrical shells subjected to a uniform temperature rise (R/h = 400, Z ¼ 300
and T0 = 300 K).
Table 1
Volume fraction index N Present and [24] Mirzavand and Eslami [40]
Temperature-dependent material properties for (10, 10) SWCNT (L = 9.26 nm,
R = 0.68 nm, h = 0.067 nm, mCN
12 ¼ 0:175).
TID TD TD

Temperature 0.0 86.66 82.27 85.90

ECN
11 ECN
22 GCN
12 aCN
11 ð10
6
=KÞ aCN
22 ð10
6
=KÞ
(K) 0.2 96.03 90.64 95.65
(TPa) (TPa) (TPa)
0.5 106.54 99.89 106.49
300 5.6466 7.0800 1.9445 3.4584 5.1682 1.0 118.46 110.25 118.74
500 5.5308 6.9348 1.9643 4.5361 5.0189 2.0 132.45 122.21 133.12
700 5.4744 6.8641 1.9644 4.6677 4.8943 3.0 140.68 129.15 141.62
1000 5.2814 6.6220 1.9451 4.2800 4.7532 5.0 150.28 137.15 151.59
1036 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038

Table 3
Comparisons of buckling temperature Tcr (in K) for perfect, thin CNTRC cylindrical shells with different types of CNT reinforcements (R/h = 100, h = 1 mm).

V CN UD FG-X FG-V FG-K

a
Z ¼ 100, (m, n) = (1, 7)
0.12 376.5508 388.5635 (+3.2%)b 374.9642 366.1199
0.17 383.9038 397.2143 (+4.1%) 383.0082 373.9069
0.28 367.4149 382.8289 (+4.2%) 365.3591 359.9882

Z ¼ 300
0.12 378.4233 (1,6)a 383.7513 (1, 6) (+1.4%) 380.8853 (1, 6) 372.6362 (1, 6)
0.17 387.6421 (1, 6) 394.7082 (1, 6) (+1.8%) 385.5435 (2, 7) 376.2598 (2, 7)
0.28 367.8114 (1, 6) 377.7286 (1, 6) (+2.7%) 367.8155 (2, 7) 362.4754 (2, 7)

Z ¼ 500, (m, n) = (2, 7)

0.12 375.6082 385.6873 (+2.7%) 375.2671 366.5137
0.17 383.4142 394.9890 (+3.5%) 383.7665 374.7634
0.28 366.0946 380.0278 (+3.8%) 365.4324 360.0450
a
Buckling mode (m, n).
b
Difference = 100% [Tcr(FG)  Tcr(UD)]/Tcr(UD).

Table 4
Comparisons of buckling temperature Tcr (in K) for perfect, shear deformable CNTRC cylindrical shells with different types of CNT reinforcements (R/h = 30, h = 1 mm).

V CN UD FG-X FG-V FG-K

Z ¼ 100; (m, n) = (1, 4)a

0.12 491.9465 523.0934 (+6.3%)b 487.4212 471.0706
0.17 507.2676 543.6540 (+7.2%) 503.9091 486.4714
0.28 472.5842 511.1418 (+8.2%) 467.2805 457.7146

Z ¼ 300
0.12 497.4459 (1, 3)a 507.2433 (1, 3) (+2.0%) 492.0543 (2, 4) 476.2961 (2, 4)
0.17 517.3396 (1, 3) 532.0349 (1, 3) (+2.8%) 507.5633 (2, 4) 490.5347 (2, 4)
0.28 474.9754 (1, 3) 493.4962 (1, 3) (+3.9%) 471.4123 (2, 4) 462.8435 (2, 4)

Z ¼ 500
0.12 506.9585 (1, 3) 514.8495 (1, 3) (+1.6%) 488.7773 (2, 4) 472.3275 (2, 4)
0.17 528.2565 (1, 3) 541.5776 (1, 3) (+2.5%) 505.8379 (2, 4) 488.6526 (2, 4)
0.28 482.4320 (1, 3) 500.8616 (1, 3) (+3.8%) 468.0787 (2, 4) 458.1154 (2, 4)
a
Buckling mode (m, n).
b
Difference = 100% [Tcr(FG)  Tcr(UD)]/Tcr(UD).

V CN ¼ 0:17 will have highest buckling temperature among the
three. In other words, the shell with intermediate nanotube vol-
ume fraction does not have intermediate buckling temperature in
most cases, which confirming the finding of Shen and Zhang [14]
for FG-CNTRC plates.
Fig. 1 shows thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves for
CNTRC cylindrical shells of types V, K and X subjected to a uniform
temperature rise. The results for an UD-CNTRC cylindrical shell are
also included for direct comparison. All four shells have Z ¼ 100
and V CN ¼ 0:28. It can be seen that the shell of Type X has highest,
while the shell of Type K has lowest thermal postbuckling strength
among the three when W=h < 1:0. Hence, in the following exam-
ples only UD-CNTRC shell and FG-CNTRC shell of Type X are
considered.
Fig. 2 shows the effect of the nanotube volume fraction V CN
(=0.12, 0.17 and 0.28) on the thermal postbuckling load–deflection
curves of FG- and UD-CNTRC cylindrical shells with Z ¼ 500 sub-
jected to a uniform temperature rise. It can be seen that the shell

1000 800
CNTRC shells CNTRC shells
* R/h = 100, Z = 500
800 R/h = 100, Z = 100, V =0.28
CN (m, n)=(2, 7)
(m, n) = (1, 7) 600

600
T (K)

T (K)

*
400 UD: VCN =0.12
*
400 FG: V CN
=0.12
*
UD UD: V CN
=0.17
* FG-V 200 * FG: V
*
=0.17
200 W /t = 0.0 W /t = 0.0 CN
FG-Λ *
*
W /t = 0.1
*
W /t = 0.1 UD: V =0.28
FG-X CN
*
FG: V CN
=0.28
0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
W/h W/h

Fig. 1. Thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves of CNTRC cylindrical shells Fig. 2. Effect of nanotube volume fraction on thermal postbuckling load–deflection
with different types of CNT reinforcements. curves of CNTRC cylindrical shells subjected to a uniform temperature rise.
 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038 1037

800 6. Concluding remarks

CNTRC shells
*
R/h = 100, VCN =0.28 Thermal postbuckling behavior of functionally graded carbon
600 nanotube-reinforced composite cylindrical shells subjected to a
uniform temperature rise has been presented on the basis of a
micromechanical model and multi-scale approach. The scale effect
T (K)

400 of CNT reinforcements is considered by introducing the CNT effi-

UD: Z = 100 ciency parameter that is estimated by matching the elastic modu-
FG: Z = 100
lus of CNTRCs predicted by the MD simulations with the prediction
UD: Z = 300
200 *
FG: Z = 300
of the extended rule of mixture. A parametric study for FG- and
W /t = 0.0
* UD: Z = 500 UD-CNTRC cylindrical shells with low nanotube volume fractions
W /t = 0.1
FG: Z = 500 has been carried out. The results obtained illustrate that the mid-
0 plane symmetric functionally graded reinforcements can increase
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
the buckling temperature as well as thermal postbuckling strength
W/h
of the shell. However, this effect is less pronounced as compared to
Fig. 3. Effect of shell geometric parameter on the thermal postbuckling load– the same shell under axial compression. The results also confirm
deflection curves of CNTRC shells subjected to a uniform temperature rise. that the CNTRC cylindrical shell has stable thermal postbuckling
equilibrium path.

1000 Appendix A
CNTRC shells
*
800 Z = 300, VCN =0.17 In Eqs. (37) and (38)
"
600 1 m4 ð1 þ lÞ 1 m2 g 11
H3 ¼ c c e  c24 c14
T (K)

C 3 14 24 16n2 b2 g 09 g 06 32n2 b2 g 09

400 1 c5 g2 c2  c25 cT2 ð2Þ
þ m2 ð1 þ 2lÞe  2g 05 e2 þ 052 e3 þ 24 kT
UD: R/h = 30 8 g8 m c24 g T
*
W /t = 0.0 FG: R/h = 30
200
*
W /t = 0.1
UD: R/h = 100 c224  c25 cT2 ð0Þ
FG: R/h = 100 H4 ¼ k ðA:1Þ
c24 g T T
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 (
W/h 1 c24 m2 1 g þ ð1 þ lÞg 07
kð0Þ
x ¼ e þ c24 05
2 ð1 þ lÞg 06 ð1 þ lÞ2 g 06
Fig. 4. Effect of shell radius-to-thickness ratio R/h on the thermal postbuckling " #
load–deflection curves of CNTRC shells subjected to a uniform temperature rise. 1 g 05 ð1 þ lÞg 07  lð2 þ lÞg 05
þ g þ c c
c14 ð1 þ lÞm2 08 14 24 g 06 ð1 þ lÞ2
with V CN ¼ 0:17 has highest buckling temperature and initial ther- 
mal postbuckling strength, whereas in the deep postbuckling re- l g 05 g 05
e 1þ e
gion the shell with V CN ¼ 0:12 becomes stiffer when the 2 c m4
ð1 þ lÞ 14 ð1 þ lÞm2
deflection is sufficiently large.
" # )
g 05 g 05 þ ð1 þ lÞg 07
Fig. 3 shows the effect of shell geometric parameter Z (=100,  g 08 þ c14 c24 ð2 þ lÞ e2
300 and 500) on the thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves
g 06 ð1 þ lÞ2
of FG- and UD-CNTRC cylindrical shells with V CN ¼ 0:28 subjected 
to a uniform temperature rise. It can be seen that the shell with 1 m6 ð2 þ lÞ 1 m4
kxð2Þ ¼ c14 c224 2
e þ c14 c224
Z ¼ 100 has highest buckling temperature and thermal postbuck- 8 2g 09 g 06 2g 09 g 06

ling strength among the three. It can be found that the buckling g 05 g 07 1
temperature as well as thermal postbuckling strength of FG-CNTRC  þ ð1 þ lÞ þ g 12 ð1 þ lÞ  g 11
g 06 g 06 ð1 þ lÞ
shell is higher than that of the UD-CNTRC shell. 2

1 m g 11 g 05 1 g
Fig. 4 shows the effect of shell radius-to-thickness ratio R/h (=30  c24 m2 g 13 ð1 þ 2lÞe þ c14 c224  07  g 12 e
4 2g 09 g 06 1 þ l g 06
and 100) on the thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves of " #
2
FG- and UD-CNTRC shells with V CN ¼ 0:17 subjected to a uniform m g 05 2ð1 þ lÞ  ð1 þ 2lÞ
2
l g 05
þ c14 c224 g 14 þ ð2 þ lÞe
temperature rise. It can be seen that the buckling temperature 2g 09 g 06 2ð1 þ lÞ2 1 þ l g 06
and thermal postbuckling strength of a shear deformable shell )
(R/h = 30) are higher and are considerably greater than those of
m2 n4 b4 ð5 þ 11l þ 4l2 Þg 06 þ 8m4 ð1 þ lÞð2 þ lÞg 10
þ c24 e
the thin shell (R/h = 100). It can be found that the difference be- g 06 ð1 þ lÞg 06  4m4 g 10
tween two thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves of FG-
and UD-CNTRC shells with R/h = 30 is more pronounced. 1 2 3 m10 ð1 þ lÞ ð6 þ 6l þ l2 Þg 136 þ ð1 þ lÞð6  l2 Þg 06 1
kxð4Þ ¼ c c e
It is noted that in all these figures W  =h denotes the dimension- 128 14 24 g 209 g 306 g 136  ð1 þ lÞg 06
less maximum initial geometric imperfection of the shell. In the
present example, no multi-buckling modes are found, and no coex- ð0Þ
isiting solutions arise. From Figs. 1–4, it can be seen that an in- kT ¼ 2kð0Þ
x

crease in temperature is usually required to obtain an increase in 

deformation. This confirms that the thermal postbuckling equilib- ð2Þ 1 c24 g2
kT ¼ 2kð2Þ
x  m2 ð1 þ 2lÞe  2g 05 e2 þ 052 e3
rium path is stable, and the shell structure is virtually imperfec- 8 g8 m
tion-insensitive for both FG- and UD-CNTRC cylindrical shells.
1038 H.-S. Shen / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1030–1038

(
ð4Þ 1 c24 b11 2 2 m8 ð1 þ lÞ2 3=2 [15] Ke L-L, Yang J, Kitipornchai S. Nonlinear free vibration of functionally graded
kT ¼ 2kð4Þ
x þ c c e carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beams. Compos Struct
64 g 8 32p# 14 24 n4 b4 g 209 g 206 2010;92:676–83.
 2 ) [16] Wang Z-X, Shen H-S. Nonlinear vibration of nanotube-reinforced composite
2 3 g 06 ð1 þ 2lÞ þ 8m ð1 þ lÞg 10
4
2 4 4 plates in thermal environments. Comput Mater Sci 2011;50:2319–30.
þ m n b ð1 þ lÞ e ðA:2Þ [17] Shen H-S. Postbuckling of nanotube-reinforced composite cylindrical shells in
g 06 ð1 þ lÞ  4m4 g 10
thermal environments. Part I: Axially-loaded shells. Compos Struct
2011;93:2096–108.
in the above equations (with gij and gijk are defined as in Shen [29]) [18] Shen H-S. Postbuckling of nanotube-reinforced composite cylindrical shells in
 1=2 thermal environments. Part II: Pressure-loaded shells. Compos Struct
c14 c24 c2320 g 15 2011;93:2496–503.
b¼ ; c ¼ c14 c24 c320 ; [19] Meguid SA, Sun Y. On the tensile and shear strength of nano-reinforced
g 16 2g 16
 1=2  1=2 composite interfaces. Mater Des 2004;25:289–96.
bc bþc [20] Li X, Gao H, Scrivens WA, Fei D, Xu X, Sutton MA, et al. Reinforcing mechanisms
#¼ ; /¼ ; of single-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composites. J Nanosci
2 2 Nanotechnol 2007;7:2309–17.
ð1Þ ð1Þ # ð2Þ ð2Þ # [21] Esawi AMK, Farag MM. Carbon nanotube reinforced composites: potential and
a01 ¼ 1; a10 ¼ g 17 ; b01 ¼ c24 g 19 ; b10 ¼ c24 g 20 ; current challenges. Mater Des 2007;28:2394–401.
/ /
 [22] Anumandla V, Gibson RF. A comprehensive closed form micromechanics
1  ð1Þ 2 2 ð1Þ model for estimating the elastic modulus of nanotube-reinforced composites.
b11 ¼ a10 / b þ a10 2#/c þ ð2#4  #2 /2 þ /4 Þ ; Composites: Part A 2006;37:2178–85.
b
[23] Librescu L, Oh S-Y, Song O. Thin-walled beams made of functionally graded
g g 2 c25  ð2Þ ð2Þ

materials and operating in a high temperature environment: vibration and
C 3 ¼ 1  052 e; C 11 ¼ 8 ; g 8 ¼ c224  #b01  /b10 e1=2 ; stability. J Therm Stresses 2005;28:649–712.
m gT p c24 [24] Shen H-S. Thermal postbuckling behavior of functionally graded cylindrical
2 c  
ð2Þ ð2Þ shells with temperature-dependent properties. Int J Solids Struct
g T ¼ ðc224 cT1  c5 cT2 Þ þ 5
#b01  /b10 ðcT2  c5 cT1 Þe1=2 ðA:3Þ
p c24 2004;41:1961–74.
[25] Shen H-S. Thermal postbuckling of shear deformable FGM cylindrical shells
with temperature-dependent properties. Mech Adv Mater Struct
2007;14:439–52.
References [26] Kwon H, Bradbury CR, Leparoux M. Fabrication of functionally graded carbon
nanotube-reinforced aluminum matrix composite. Adv Eng Mater
[1] Abdel-Rahman EM, Younis MI, Nayfeh AH. Characterization of the mechanical 2011;13:325–9.
behavior of an electrically actuated microbeam. J Micromech Microeng [27] Shapery RA. Thermal expansion coefficients of composite materials based on
2002;12:759–66. energy principles. J Compos Mater 1968;2:380–404.
[2] Ashrafi B, Hubert P, Vengallatore S. Carbon nanotube-reinforced composites as [28] Reddy JN, Liu CF. A higher-order shear deformation theory of laminated elastic
structural materials for microactuators in microelectromechanical systems. shells. Int J Eng Sci 1985;23:319–30.
Nanotechnology 2006;17:4895–903. [29] Shen H-S. Functionally graded materials nonlinear analysis of plates and
[3] Wuite J, Adali S. Deflection and stress behaviour of nanocomposite reinforced shells. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2009.
beams using a multiscale analysis. Compos Struct 2005;71:388–96. [30] von Kármán T, Tsien HS. The buckling of thin cylindrical shells under axial
[4] Vodenitcharova T, Zhang LC. Bending and local buckling of a nanocomposite compression. J Aerospace Sci 1941;8:303–12.
beam reinforced by a single-walled carbon nanotube. Int J Solids Struct [31] Kempner J. Postbuckling behavior of axially compressed circular cylinders.
2006;43:3006–24. AIAA J 1963;1:630–3.
[5] Formica G, Lacarbonara W, Alessi R. Vibrations of carbon nanotube-reinforced [32] Koiter WT. Elastic stability and postbuckling behavior. In: Langer RE, editor.
composites. J Sound Vib 2010;329:1875–89. Nonlinear problems. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press; 1963. p.
[6] Seidel GD, Lagoudas DC. Micromechanical analysis of the effective elastic 257–75.
properties of carbon nanotube reinforced composites. Mech Mater [33] Dym CL, Hoff NJ. Perturbation solutions for the buckling problems of axially
2006;38:884–907. compressed thin cylindrical shells of infinite or finite length. J Appl Mech
[7] Qian D, Dickey EC, Andrews R, Rantell T. Load transfer and deformation ASME 1968;35:754–62.
mechanisms in carbon nanotube–polystyrene composites. Appl Phys Lett [34] Wang CM, Zhang YY, Xiang Y, Reddy JN. Recent studies on buckling of carbon
2000;76:2868–70. nanotubes. Appl Mech Rev 2010;63:030804.
[8] Griebel M, Hamaekers J. Molecular dynamics simulations of the elastic moduli [35] Wang CY, Zhang LC. A critical assessment of the elastic properties and effective
of polymer–carbon nanotube composites. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng wall thickness of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology
2004;193:1773–88. 2008;19:075705.
[9] Song YS, Youn JR. Modeling of effective elastic properties for polymer based [36] Brenner DW, Shenderova OA, Harrison JA, Stuart SJ, Ni B, Sinnott SB. A second-
carbon nanotube composites. Polymer 2006;47:1741–8. generation reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential energy expression
[10] Han Y, Elliott J. Molecular dynamics simulations of the elastic properties of for hydrocarbons. J Phys: Condensed Matter 2002;14:783–802.
polymer/carbon nanotube composites. Comput Mater Sci 2007;39:315–23. [37] Hoover WG. Canonical dynamics: equilibrium phase-space distributions. Phys
[11] Bonnet P, Sireude D, Garnier B, Chauvet O. Thermal properties and percolation Rev A 1985;31:1695–7.
in carbon nanotube–polymer composites. J Appl Phys 2007;91:201910. [38] Zhang C-L, Shen H-S. Temperature-dependent elastic properties of single-
[12] Shen H-S. Nonlinear bending of functionally graded carbon nanotube- walled carbon nanotubes: Prediction form molecular dynamics simulation.
reinforced composite plates in thermal environments. Compos Struct Appl Phys Lett 2006;89:081904.
2009;91:9–19. [39] Fukuda H, Kawata K. On Young’s modulus of short fibre composites. Fibre Sci
[13] Shen H-S, Zhu ZH. Buckling and postbuckling behavior of functionally graded Technol 1974;7:207–22.
nanotube-reinforced composite plates in thermal environments. Comput [40] Mirzavand B, Eslami MR. Thermoelastic stability analysis of imperfect
Mater Continua 2010;18:155–82. functionally graded cylindrical shells. J Mech Mater Struct 2008;3:
[14] Shen H-S, Zhang C-L. Thermal buckling and postbuckling behavior of 1561–72.
functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates. Mater Des
2010;31:3403–11.