Analytical Modeling of Buckling of Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced SandwichStructured Composite Shells Resting on Elastic Foundations

Sandwich-Structured Composites (SSCs) are widely used in lightweight construction, especially in the aerospace sector, due to their high specific stiffness and strength. Therefore, it is important to develop their quality by using new techniques. Today, nanotechnologies offer new perspectives for the reinforcement of construction materials. This paper assumes that the reinforcement of the sandwich shell is performed by CNT reinforced face sheets with a uniform or Functionally Graded (FG) distribution of CNTs. The effective properties of the Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Sandwich-Structured Composite (CNT-RSSC) shells are calculated using the rule of mixture. This study presents novel exact analytical formulas to predict the critical buckling load of the CNT-RSSC shells resting on elastic foundations based on Donnell cylindrical shell theory. These analytical formulas provide the most meaningful answer because we get an equation showing us exactly what happens with each variable. The effects of various parameters on the buckling stability of the RSSC shells are examined.