Analytical modeling of buckling of carbon nanotubes reinforced sandwich-structured composite shells resting on elastic foundations

This article presents the buckling behavior of carbon nanotubes reinforced sandwich-structured composite shells supported by elastic foundations. The sandwich-structured configuration is composed of three layers, an isotropic core, and two nanocomposite face sheets. Carbon nanotubes fibers are applied to reinforce nanocomposite face sheets of sandwich composite shells. It is assumed that the distribution of reinforcements across the shell thickness is uniform or functionally graded. Under the assumption of the thin shell, the equilibrium equation of the buckling response of CNT-RSSC shells is obtained. The pre-buckling stresses by applying Airy’s stress function and an adjacent equilibrium criterion to establish the stability equation associated with the buckling state are obtained. The effects of different types of CNTs' reinforcement, volume fractions, geometrical parameters, core to face sheet thickness ratio, and elastic foundations on the mechanical buckling analysis are examined.