Large deflection of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite cylindrical shell exposed to internal pressure and thermal gradient.

In this paper, the nonlinear bending of functionally graded carbon nanotube‐reinforced composite (FG‐CNTRC) shell exposed to thermomechanical loading is perused. It is assumed that the composite shell is reinforced in the longitudinal axis and is also made from a polymeric matrix. Mechanical features of the constituents are obtained based on the modified rule of mixture, and they are considered to be temperature dependent (TD). Using the first‐order shear deformation shell theory (FSDT) as well as von Kármán type of geometrical nonlinearity, the equilibrium mathematical relations are derived. Utilizing the dynamic relaxation (DR) procedure combined with the central finite difference method, these mathematical relations are solved in diverse boundary conditions. Finally, roles of carbon nanotube (CNT) distributions, boundary conditions, shell radius, thickness‐to‐radius ratios, volume fraction of CNTs, mechanical loads, thermal gradient, and temperature dependency are examined on the results. From the numerical results, it can be inferred that in the shell with the CC boundary condition, the FG‐O distribution of nanotubes has the maximum deflection, and the lowest deflection belongs to the uniform distribution. However, in the SS boundary condition, the highest and lowest values of deflections are related to V and uniform distributions, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]