Buckling of Graphene Platelet Reinforced Composite Cylindrical Shell with Cutout

Abstract

This paper investigates the buckling behavior of graphene platelets (GPL) reinforced composite cylindrical shells with cutouts via finite element method (FEM) simulation. Young’s modulus of the composites is determined by the modified Halpin–Tsai micromechanics model while the mass density and Poisson’s ratio of the composites are approximated by the rule of mixture. Comprehensive parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of the weight fraction and the shape of GPL fillers, the geometry of the shell and the position and orientation of the cutout on the buckling behaviors of the cylindrical structures. The results demonstrate that the addition of GPLs can significantly increase the load bearing capacity of the cylindrical shells. Larger sized GPLs with fewer single graphene layers are favorable reinforcing fillers in enhancing the buckling performances of the structures. The buckling load is sensitive to the location of the cutout with larger aspect ratio. Moreover, the orientation of the cutout is found to have significant effects on the buckling load when the orientation angle [Formula: see text] is falling within the ranges – [Formula: see text]/2 [Formula: see text] – [Formula: see text]/4 and [Formula: see text]/4 [Formula: see text]/2.