Influences of elastic foundations and thermal environments on the thermoelastic buckling of nanocomposite truncated conical shells

Abstract

In this study, the combined effects of two-parameter elastic foundation and thermal environment on the buckling behaviors of carbon nanotube (CNT) patterned composite conical shells in the framework of the shear deformation theory (SDT) are investigated. It is assumed that the nanocomposite conical shell is freely supported at its ends and that the material properties are temperature dependent. The derivation of fundamental equations of CNT-patterned truncated conical shells on elastic foundations is based on the Donnell shell theory. The Galerkin method is applied to the basic equations to find the expressions for the critical temperature (CT) and axial buckling loads of CNT-patterned truncated conical shells on elastic foundations and in thermal environments. In the presence of elastic foundations and thermal environments, it is estimated how the effects of CNT patterns, the volume fractions, and the characteristics of conical shells on the buckling load within SDT change by comparing them with the classical shell theory (CST).