Abstract
Effect of thickness stretching on mechanical behavior of functionally graded (FG) carbon nanotubes reinforced composite (CNTRC) laminated nanoplates resting on elastic foundation is analyzed in this paper using a novel quasi 3D higher order shear deformation theory. The key feature of this theoretical formulation is that, in addition to considering the thickness stretching effect, the number of unknowns of the displacement field is reduced to four, and which is more than five in the other models. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are the reinforced elements and are distributed with four power-law functions which are, uniform distribution, V-distribution, O-distribution and X-distribution. To cover various boundary conditions, an analytical solution is developed based on Galerkin method to solve the governing equilibrium equations by considering the nonlocal strain gradient theory. A modified two-dimensional variable Winkler elastic foundation is proposed in this study for the first time. A parametric study is executed to determine the influence of the reinforcement patterns, power-law index, nonlocal parameter, length scale parameter, thickness and aspect ratios, elastic foundation, thermal environments, and various boundary conditions on stresses, displacements, buckling loads and frequencies of the CNTRC laminated nanoplate.