Large deflections of cantilever FG-CNTRC sandwich beams

Large deflections of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) sandwich beams are studied in this paper by a nonlinear finite element procedure. The core of the beams is homogeneous while the two faces 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-A, FG-V, FG-O.