Electro-thermo-mechanical torsional buckling of a piezoelectric polymeric cylindrical shell reinforced by DWBNNTs with an elastic core

The effect of partially filled poly ethylene (PE) foam core on the behavior of torsional buckling of an isotropic, simply supported piezoelectric polymeric cylindrical shell made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and subjected to combined electro-thermo-mechanical loads has been analyzed using energy method. The shell is reinforced by armchair double walled boron nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs). The core is modeled as an elastic environment containing Winkler and Pasternak modules. Using representative volume element (RVE) based on micromechanical modeling, mechanical, electrical and thermal characteristics of the equivalent composite were determined. Critical buckling load is calculated using strains based on Donnell theory, the coupled electro-thermo-mechanical governing equations and principle of minimum potential energy. The results indicate that buckling strength increases substantially as harder foam cores are employed i.e. as E-c/E-s is increased. The most economic in-fill foam core is at eta = 0.6, as cost increases without much significant improvement in torsional buckling at higher eta's. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.