• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.821-832
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• 2019

An analysis on thermal buckling and postbuckling of composite laminated plates reinforced with a low amount of graphene platelets is performed in the current investigation. It is assumed that graphaene platelets are randomly oriented and uniformly dispersed in each layer of the composite media. Elastic properties of the nanocomposite media are obtained by means of the modified Halpin-Tsai approach which takes into account the size effects of the graphene reinforcements. By means of the von $K{\acute{a}}rm{\acute{a}}n$ type of geometrical nonlinearity, third order shear deformation theory and nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) based isogeometric finite element method, the governing equations for the thermal postbuckling of nanocomposite plates in rectangular shape are established. These equations are solved by means of a direct displacement control strategy. Numerical examples are given to study the effects of boundary conditions, weight fraction of graphene platelets and distribution pattern of graphene platelets. It is shown that, with introduction of a small amount of graphene platelets into the matrix of the composite media, the critical buckling temperature of the plate may be enhanced and thermal postbuckling deflection may be alleviated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2021

The effect of nanoparticle volume fraction on the elastic properties of a polymer-based nanocomposite was experimentally investigated and the obtained results were compared with various existing theoretical models. The nanocomposite was consisted of high density polyethylene (HDPE) as polymeric matrix and 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared using twin screw extruder and injection molding technique. Nanocomposite samples were molded in injection apparatus according to ASTM-D638 standard. Therefore, in addition to morphological investigations of the samples, tensile tests at ambient temperature were performed on each sample and stress-strain plots, elastic moduli, Poisson's ratios, and strain energies of volume units were extracted from primary strain test results. Tensile test results demonstrated that 1 wt.% nanoparticles presented the best reinforcement behavior in HDPE-MWCNT nanocomposites. Due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles at above 1 wt.%, Young's modulus, yielding stress, fracture stress, and fracture energy were decreased and Poisson's ratio and failure strain were increased.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.3
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• pp.325-334
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• 2024

This paper deals with the dynamic buckling behavior of truncated conical shells composed of carbon nanotube composites, an important area of study in view of their very wide engineering applications in aerospace industries. In this regard, the effective material properties of the nanocomposite have been computed using the Mori-Tanaka model, which has already been established for such analyses. The motion equations ruling the structure's behavior are derived using first order shear deformation theory, Hamilton's principle, and energy method. This will provide adequate background information on its dynamic response. In an effort to probe the dynamic instability region of the structure, differential quadrature method combined with Bolotin's method will be adopted to tackle the resulting motion equations, which enables efficient and accurate analysis. This work considers the effect of various parameters in the geometrical parameters and the volume fraction of CNTs on the structure's DIR. Specifically, it became clear that increasing the volume fraction of CNTs shifted the frequency range of the DIR to higher values, indicating the significant role of nanocomposite composition regarding structure stability.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2015

We report a covalent functionalization of graphene nanoparticles (GnPs) employing 2,3,4-Tri-O-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-xylopyranosyl azide followed by fabrication of an epoxy/functionalized graphene nanocomposite and an evaluation of its thermo-mechanical performance. Successful functionalization of GnP was confirmed via thermal and spectroscopic study. Raman spectroscopy indicated that the functionalization was on the edge of the graphene sheets; the basal plane was not perturbed as a result of the functionalization. The epoxy/functionalized GnP composite system exhibited an increase in flexural modulus (~18%) and glass transition temperature (${\sim}10^{\circ}C$) compared to an un-functionalized GnP based epoxy composite.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.711-727
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• 2020

In the present research, the free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) nanocomposite deep spherical shells reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs) on elastic foundation is performed. The elastic foundation is assumed to be Winkler-Past ernak-type. It is also assumed that graphaene platelets are randomly oriented and uniformly dispersed in each layer of the nanocomposite shell. Volume fraction of the graphene platelets as nanofillers may be different in the layers. The modified HalpinTsai model is used to approximate the effective mechanical properties of the multilayer nanocomposite. With the aid of the first order shear deformation shell theory and implementing Hamilton's principle, motion equations are derived. Afterwards, the generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is utilized to study the free vibration characteristics of FG-GPLRC spherical shell. To assess the validity and accuracy of the presented method, the results are compared with the available researches. Finally, the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes are provided for different boundary conditions, GPLs volume fraction, types of functionally graded, elastic foundation coefficients, opening angles of shell, and thickness-to-radius ratio.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.315-326
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• 2017

In this work, thermoelastic dynamic behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) cylinders subjected to mechanical pressure loads, uniform temperature environment or thermal gradient loads is investigated by a mesh-free method. The material properties and thermal stress wave propagation of the nanocomposite cylinders are derived after solving of the transient thermal equation and obtaining of the time history of temperature field of the cylinders. The nanocomposite cylinders are made of a polymer matrix and wavy single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are assumed variable along the radial direction of the axisymmetric cylinder. Also, material properties of the polymer and CNT are assumed temperature-dependent and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite are estimated by a micro mechanical model in volume fraction form. In the mesh-free analysis, moving least squares shape functions are used to approximate temperature and displacement fields in the weak form of motion equation and transient thermal equation, respectively. Also, transformation method is used to impose their essential boundary conditions. Effects of waviness, volume fraction and distribution pattern of CNT, temperature of environment and direction of thermal gradient loads are investigated on the thermoelastic dynamic behavior of FG-CNTRC cylinders.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.77-92
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• 2020

The present paper outlined a procedure for geometrically nonlinear dynamic analysis of functionally graded graphene platelets-reinforced (GPLR-FG) nanocomposite cylinder subjected to mechanical shock loading. The governing equation of motion for large deformation problems is derived using meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method based on total lagrangian approach. In the MLPG method, the radial point interpolation technique is employed to construct the shape functions. A micromechanical model based on the Halpin-Tsai model and rule of mixture is used for formulation the nonlinear functionally graded distribution of GPLs in polymer matrix of composites. Energy dissipation in analyses of the structure responding to dynamic loads is considered using the Rayleigh damping. The Newmark-Newton/Raphson method which is an incremental-iterative approach is implemented to solve the nonlinear dynamic equations. The results of the proposed method for homogenous material are compared with the finite element ones. A very good agreement is achieved between the MLPG and FEM with very fine meshing. In addition, the results have demonstrated that the MLPG method is more effective method compared with the FEM for very large deformation problems due to avoiding mesh distortion issues. Finally, the effect of GPLs distribution on strength, stiffness and dynamic characteristics of the cylinder are discussed in details. The obtained results show that the distribution of GPLs changed the mechanical properties, so a classification of different types and volume fraction exponent is established. Indeed by comparing the obtained results, the best compromise of nanocomposite cylinder is determined in terms of mechanical and dynamic properties for different load patterns. All these applications have shown that the present MLPG method is very effective for geometrically nonlinear analyses of GPLR-FG nanocomposite cylinder because of vanishing mesh distortion issue in large deformation problems. In addition, since in proposed method the distributed nodes are used for discretization the problem domain (rather than the meshing), modeling the functionally graded media yields to more accurate results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.281-292
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• 2019

In this paper, analysis of critical fluid velocity and heat transfer in the nanocomposite pipes conveying nanofluid is presented. The pipe is reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the fluid is mixed by $AL_2O_3$ nanoparticles. The material properties of the nanocomposite pipe and nanofluid are considered temperature-dependent and the structure is subjected to magnetic field. The forces of fluid viscosity and turbulent pressure are obtained using momentum equations of fluid. Based on energy balance, the convection of inner and outer fluids, conduction of pipe and heat generation are considered. For mathematical modeling of the nanocomposite pipes, the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and energy method are used. Utilizing the Lagrange method, the coupled pipe-nanofluid motion equations are derived. Applying a semi-analytical method, the motion equations are solved for obtaining the critical fluid velocity and critical Reynolds and Nusselt numbers. The effects of CNTs volume percent, $AL_2O_3$ nanoparticles volume percent, length to radius ratio of the pipe and shell surface roughness were shown on the critical fluid velocity, critical Reynolds and Nusselt numbers. The results are validated with other published work which shows the accuracy of obtained results of this work. Numerical results indicate that for heat generation of $Q=10MW/m^3$, adding 6% $AL_2O_3$ nanoparticles to the fluid increases 20% the critical fluid velocity and 15% the Nusselt number which can be useful for heat exchangers.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.323-334
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• 2024

This paper deals with the effect of non-linear volume fraction distribution of carbon nanotube in the FG-CNTRC beams on the critical buckling via a hyperbolic shear deformation theory. Here, different boundary condition was considered including hinged hinged, clamped clamped and clamped-free. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are aligned and distributed in the polymer matrix in different ways to reinforce it and the material properties of (CNTRC) beams are assumed to vary gradually along the thickness direction, following a new exponential power law distribution of (CNT). The effective material properties of nanocomposite beams are estimated using the rule of mixture. The governing equations of the mathematical models are obtained by applying Hamilton's principle. The results provided of mathematical models in this work are compared and validated with similar ones in the literature. The critical buckling loads of nanocomposite beams with different boundary conditions of linear and non-linear distribution of CNT volume fraction were obtained. The effects of several parameters, including the type of beam, the volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the exponent degree (n), and the aspect ratio, were investigated. The distribution non-linearity of CNT volume fraction in the beam has a significant impact on the mechanical properties, particularly in buckling behavior with different boundary conditions.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2003

In this study, two types of biodegradable resins-based clay nanocomposites, in which organic montmorillonite clay was filled, were prepared by the direct melt blending method. In order to characterize the nanocomposite structure, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and TEM observation were performed. Characterization of the nanocomposites shows that intercalated and partially exfoliated structures were generated by the melt blending method. Mechanical and rheological properties of the nanocomposites were measured respectively. For the mechanical properties, there were improvements in tensile strength and Young's modulus of the nanocomposites due to the reinforcement of nanoparticles. The rheological behaviors of the nanocomposites were significantly affected by the degree of the dispersion of the organoclay. The storage modulus of the nanocomposites was measured and the degree of the dispersion of the organoclay was evaluated from the value of the terminal slope of the storage modulus. In addition, the quantity of the shear necessary for making the nanocomposite for melt intercalation method was estimated from the relationship between the value of the terminal slope of the storage modulus and the applied shear.