Vibration of carbon nanotube-reinforced plates via refined nth-higher-order theory

This article presents the free vibration frequencies of composite plates reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes by using a refined simplified two-variable nth-higher-order theory. Four kinds of distribution of uniaxially aligned reinforcement material are presented. The most famous one is the uniform; in addition, three types of functionally graded distributions of carbon nanotubes in the through-thickness direction of the plates are investigated. The effective physical properties of composite media are given according to a refined rule of mixtures approach that contains the efficiency parameters. Exact closed-form formulation based on a refined simplified two-variable nth-higher-order plate theory that can be adapted to the vibration of such plates is investigated. Accuracy of presented approach is validated by comparing its results with those given by other investigators