Buckling analysis of shear deformable composite conical shells reinforced by CNTs subjected to combined loading on the two-parameter elastic foundation

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the buckling analysis of CCSs reinforced by CNTs subjected to combined loading of hydrostatic pressure and axial compression resting on the twoparameter elastic foundation (T-P-EF). It is one of the first attempts to derive the governing equations of the CCSs reinforced with CNTs, based on a generalized first-order shear deformation shell theory (FSDST) which includes shell-foundation interaction. By adopting the extended mixing rule, the effective material properties of CCSs reinforced by CNTs with linear distributions are approximated by introducing some efficiency parameters. Three carbon nanotube distribution in the matrix, i.e. uniform distribution (U) and V and X-types linear distribution are taken into account. The stability equations are solved by using the Galerkin procedure to determine the combined buckling loads (CBLs) of the structure selected here. The numerical illustrations cover CBLs characteristics of CCSs reinforced by CNTs in the presence of the T-P-EF. Finally, a parametric study is carried out to study the influences of the foundation parameters, the volume fraction of carbon nanotubes and the types of reinforcement on the CBLs.