Electro-thermo-mechanical buckling of DWBNNTs embedded in bundle of CNTs using nonlocal piezoelasticity cylindrical shell theory

Axial buckling analysis of double-walled Boron Nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs) embedded in an elastic medium under combined electro-thermo-mechanical loadings is presented in this article. Virtual displacement method based on nonlocal cylindrical piezoelasticity continuum shell theory is employed to derive the equilibrium equations. Boron Nitride nanotube (BNNT) is assumed to be surrounded by a bundle of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as elastic medium for reinforcement. The elastic medium is simulated as Winkler-Pasternak foundation, and adjacent layers interactions are assumed to have been coupled by van der Walls (vdW) force evaluated based on the Lennard-Jones model. The effects of parameters such as electric and thermal loads, elastic medium and small scale are investigated on the buckling behavior of the DWBNNTs. The electric field and its direction are found to have affected the magnitude of the critical buckling load. Moreover, an analysis is carried out to estimate the nonlocal critical electro-thermo-mechanical load for the axial buckling of embedded DWBNNTs. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.