Isogeometric analysis of functionally graded CNT-reinforced composite plates based on refined plate theory

A simple and effective approach based on refined plate theory (RPT) is proposed to study the static and free vibration characteristics of functionally graded CNT-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates. Compared to traditional higher order shear deformation theories (HSDTs), the proposed method shows more efficient for FG-CNTRC plates analysis. To solve the C1-continuity requirement of the RPT, we used isogeometric analysis (IGA) to approximate the displacement field, which shows more advantages than the FEA, since it can construct higher-order elements without additional variables. This is an advantage for plate structural analysis because more variables make the calculation cumbersome. Finally, four types of FG-CNTRC plates were investigated and the results show the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.