Nonlinear thermo-elastic stability of corrugated-core toroidal shell segments with carbon nanotube-reinforced face sheets under radial pressure

An analytical approach for nonlinear buckling and postbuckling responses of corrugated-core toroidal shell segments with carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced face sheets in thermal environment subjected to radial pressure is reported in this work. Three distribution laws of functionally graded CNT-reinforced layers and the trapezoidal and round forms of the corrugated core are investigated. An equivalent technique for corrugated panels is improved by adding thermal forces to model the behavior of the corrugated core. The nonlinear equations are formulated by using the geometrically nonlinear Donnell shell theory considering Pasternak’s foundation. An algorithm to solve a system of nonlinear equations is established using the Ritz energy method with three shell deflection amplitudes. The postbuckling expressions between the compressive and tensile loads with maximal deflection and the critical compressive and tensile loads are determined. The numerically investigated examples present the significantly beneficial effects of corrugated core and functionally graded CNT-reinforced face sheets on nonlinear buckling responses of structures.