Nonlinear Forced Vibration Analysis of FG-CNTRC Cylindrical Shells Under Thermal Loading Using a Numerical Strategy

Employing an efficient numerical strategy, the nonlinear forced vibration analysis of composite cylindrical shells reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is carried out. It is assumed that the distribution of CNTs along the thickness direction of the shell is uniform or functionally graded and the temperature dependency of the material properties is accounted. The governing equations are presented based on the first-order shear deformation theory along with von-Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relations. The vectorized form of energy functional is derived and directly discretized using numerical differential and integral operators. By the use of variational differential quadrature (VDQ) method, discretized nonlinear governing equations are obtained. Then, the time periodic differential operators are applied to perform the discretization procedure in time domain. Finally, the pseudo-arc length continuation method is employed to solve the nonlinear governing equations and trace the frequency response curve of the nanocomposite cylindrical shell. A comparison study is first presented to verify the efficiency and validity of the proposed numerical method. Comprehensive numerical results are then given to investigate the effects of the involved factors on the nonlinear forced vibration characteristics of the structure. The results show that the changes of fundamental vibrational mode shape have considerable effects on the frequency response curves of composite cylindrical shells reinforced with CNTs.