Large deformation bending responses of nanotube-reinforced polymer composite panel structure: Numerical and experimental analyses

The large deformation deflection responses of randomly oriented multi-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composite structures were examined theoretically using a novel higher order shear deformation kinematic model. Moreover, the excess geometrical distortion within the structure is incorporated via the full geometrically nonlinear strain–deformation relations (Green–Lagrange strain) including all of the nonlinear higher order terms to achieve the generality. The randomly oriented nanotube-reinforced polymer composite properties were evaluated computationally via Mori–Tanaka scheme for the theoretical analysis purpose. The deflection responses were evaluated numerically using an original MATLAB program with the help of the direct iterative method and finite element steps. The performance of the currently developed numerical model was verified by solving various numerical examples for the convergence and subsequent comparison purpose. Also, the deflection values were evaluated experimentally and compared with the current numerical results using the experimentally obtained elastic properties. Finally, the generality and the applicability of the currently developed higher order nonlinear finite element model is revealed by solving various numerical examples.