• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.711-726
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• 2017

In the present work, by considering the agglomeration effect of single-walled carbon nanotubes, free vibration characteristics of functionally graded (FG) nanocomposite sandwich plates resting on Pasternak foundation are presented. The volume fractions of randomly oriented agglomerated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction. To determine the effect of CNT agglomeration on the elastic properties of CNT-reinforced composites, a two-parameter micromechanical model of agglomeration is employed. In this research work, an equivalent continuum model based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach is employed to estimate the effective constitutive law of the elastic isotropic medium (matrix) with oriented straight CNTs. The 2-D generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) as an efficient and accurate numerical tool is used to discretize the equations of motion and to implement the various boundary conditions. The proposed rectangular plates have two opposite edges simply supported, while all possible combinations of free, simply supported and clamped boundary conditions are applied to the other two edges. The benefit of using the considered power-law distribution is to illustrate and present useful results arising from symmetric and asymmetric profiles. The effects of two-parameter elastic foundation modulus, geometrical and material parameters together with the boundary conditions on the frequency parameters of the laminated FG nanocomposite plates are investigated. It is shown that the natural frequencies of structure are seriously affected by the influence of CNTs agglomeration. This study serves as a benchmark for assessing the validity of numerical methods or two-dimensional theories used to analysis of laminated plates.