Abstract
Large deflections of FG-CNTRC sandwich beams partially supported by a two-parameter elastic foundation are studied in this paper by a nonlinear finite element procedure. The core of the beams is homogeneous while the top and bottom are of CNTRC material. The effective properties of the two CNTRC face sheets are determined by an extended rule of mixture. CNTs are reinforced into matrix phase through uniform distribution (UD) or four different types of functionally graded (FG) distribution named as FG-X, FG- FG-V, FG-O. Based on a total Lagrange formulation, a first-order shear deformable nonlinear beam element is formulated and employed in the study. Newton-Raphson iterative method is used in combination with arc-length control technique to obtain the large deflection curves of the beams. The effects of CNT volume fraction, type of CNT distributions, layer thickness ratio and the foundation parameter on the large deflection behavior of the sandwich beams are examined and discussed.