Buckling analysis of CNT reinforced functionally graded laminated composite plates

Buckling behavior of carbon nanotube reinforced functionally graded (CNTR-FG) composite laminated plate is studied. The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is employed to incorporate the effects of rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation, and the meshless kp-Ritz method is used to obtain the buckling solutions. Using the kernel particle approximation in the field variables and minimizing the energy functional via the Ritz procedure, a discretized eigenvalue equation of the problem is derived. The numerical stability and accuracy of the kp-Ritz method is validated through convergence and comparison studies. Besides, parametric studies are conducted for various types of CNTs distributions, CNT volume fraction, plate aspect ratio and plate length-to-thickness ratio under different boundary conditions. Moreover, the effects of number of layers and lamination angle are also investigated.