Free Vibration Response of Agglomerated Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Nanocomposite Plates

The current investigation deals with the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) agglomeration on the free vibration behavior of nanocomposite plates created by inserting various graded distributions of carbon nanotube (CNT) in a polymeric matrix. In this study, affected material properties because of the CNT agglomeration effect were estimated first according to the two-parameter agglomeration model based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach for randomly oriented carbon nanotubes, and then a FEM code has been developed to model the FG plate using third-order shear deformation theory. In the used higher-order shear deformation theory, transverse shear stresses are represented by quadratic variation along the thickness direction, resulting in no need for a shear correction factor. Next, the present approach is implemented with the FEM by employing a C0 continuous isoparametric Lagrangian FE model with seven nodal unknowns per node. Finally, the effect of various levels of agglomeration by altering the agglomeration parameters, different CNT distribution patterns across the thickness direction, and various side-to-thickness ratios along with various boundary conditions on the free vibration response of CNT reinforced composite plates explored parametrically. The generated result shows that the CNT agglomeration effect has a significant impact on the natural frequencies of the nanocomposite plate.