Nonlinear free vibration and post-buckling of FG-CNTRC beams on nonlinear foundation

The purpose of this research is to study the nonlinear free vibration and post-buckling analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) beams resting on a nonlinear elastic foundation. Uniformly and functionally graded distributions of single walled carbon nanotubes as reinforcing phase are considered in the polymeric matrix. The modified form of rule of mixture is used to estimate the material properties of CNTRC beams. The governing equations are derived employing Euler-Bernoulli beam theory along with energy method and Hamilton's principle. Applying von Karman's strain-displacement assumptions, the geometric nonlinearity is taken into consideration. The developed governing equations with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are solved using variational iteration method (VIM) and the analytical expressions and numerical results are obtained for vibration and stability analysis of nanocomposite beams. The presented comparative results are indicative for the reliability, accuracy and fast convergence rate of the solution. Eventually, the effects of different parameters, such as foundation stiffness, volume fraction and distributions of carbon nanotubes, slenderness ratio, vibration amplitude, coefficients of elastic foundation and boundary conditions on the nonlinear frequencies, vibration response and post-buckling loads of FG-CNTRC beams are examined. The developed analytical solution provides direct insight into parametric studies of particular parameters of the problem.