Laminated Nanocomposite Structural Elements in Thermal Environments: Mathematical Modeling and Applications

ABSTRACT Modeling and solving the stability problem of laminated cylindrical shells (LCSs) formed from polymer‐based nanocomposite layers is one of the current topics of contemporary mechanics and requires interdisciplinary study. In this study, the stability behavior of LCSs consisting of carbon nanotube (CNT)–reinforced layers in thermal environment under the combined load is examined through extended shear deformation theory (ST) for the first time. The effective material properties of each nanocomposite layer are computed using extended rule‐of‐mixture (ROM) method. Nanocomposite layers are modeled as homogeneous orthotropic and functionally graded (FG) material. Fundamental relations and equations for LCSs formed from polymer‐based nanocomposite orthotropic layers are derived as partial differential equations, and the closed‐form solution is obtained using the Galerkin procedure to find the original expression of the critical combined load (CCL) for the selected structure in thermal environments. After checking the accuracy of the proposed formulation by comparing it with reliable results in the literature, the CCL is accompanied by a systematic study aimed at testing the effects of the CNT models in the layers, the number and arrangement of layers, and their sensitivity to the thermal environment.