LAUSR

Abstract Geometrically nonlinear dynamic analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) rectangular plates subjected to blast loads is conducted based on Reddy’s higher-order shear deformation theory using the weak form quadrature element method. The von-Karman strain terms are introduced to consider the geometrically nonlinear effects. The polymer composite plate is reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with the uniform and functionally graded distribution in the plate thickness direction. The effective material properties of the FG-CNTRC plates are estimated with the extended rule of mixture. The Newmark-β time integration scheme and the Newton–Raphson iteration technique are adopted to solve the nonlinear incremental dynamic equilibrium equation in temporal domain. Comparative and convergence studies are carried out to validate the accuracy, efficiency and numerical stability of the presented weak form quadrature element formulation. The effects of the carbon nanotube distribution and volume fraction, plate width-to-thickness ratio, plate aspect ratio, load type and boundary condition on the dynamic response of the FG-CNTRC plates under blast loads are systematically investigated through the parametric studies.