Vibration of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates under a moving load

The vibration behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates under a moving load is investigated based on the first-order shear deformation theory of plates using the finite element method. An embedded single-walled CNT (SWCNT) in the polymer matrix and its surrounding interphase is replaced with an equivalent fiber to obtain the effective mechanical properties of the CNT/polymer composite plates using the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka micromechanical model. The equations of motion of plate elements are derived by utilizing Hamilton’s principle. Newmark’s time integration scheme is employed to discretize the equations of motion in the temporal domain. The convergence of the method is numerically demonstrated and its accuracy is shown by performing comparison studies with existing solutions for the free vibration and static analysis of FG-CNTRC plates and also the exact solution of isotropic plates under a moving load. Then, the numerical results are presented to study the effects of various profiles of the CNT distribution, which includes both symmetric and asymmetric distributions, the velocity of the moving load, and thickness-to-length and aspect ratios together with boundary conditions on the dynamic characteristic of the FG-CNTRC plate under a moving load.