Analysis of laminated CNT reinforced functionally graded plates using the element-free kp-Ritz method

This paper presents the well known bending responses of laminated carbon nanotube-reinforced functionally graded composite plates. The laminated plate is composed of perfectly bonded carbon nanotube-reinforced functionally graded (CNTR-FG) layers. Within each CNTR-FG layer, different distributions of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) through the thickness of the layers are considered. Effective material properties of the laminated nanocomposite plates are estimated using the extended rule of mixture. The shear deformation is considered using the first-order shear deformation plate theory. In the solution process, the governing differential equations of the bending behavior of laminated CNTR-FG plates are solved by the element-free kp-Ritz method. Effects of the volume fractions of carbon nanotubes, plate width-to-thickness ratio, plate aspect ratio, distribution type of carbon nanotubes, boundary conditions, number of layers and lamination angle on the bending responses of the laminated nanocomposite plates are examined in detail.