Postbuckling of multilayer cylindrical and spherical shell panels reinforced with graphene platelet by isogeometric analysis

The present work fills a gap on the postbuckling behavior of multilayer functionally graded graphene platelet reinforced composite (FG-GPLRC) cylindrical and spherical shell panels resting on elastic foundations subjected to central pinching forces and pressure loadings. Based on a higher-order shear deformation theory and the von Kármán’s nonlinear strain–displacement relations, the governing equations of the FG-GPLRC cylindrical and spherical shell panels are established by the principle of virtual work. The non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) based isogeometric analysis (IGA), the modified arc-length method and the Newton’s iteration method are employed synthetically to obtain nonlinear load–deflection curves for the panels numerically. Several comparative examples are performed to test reliability and accuracy of IGA and arc-length method in present formulation and programming implementation. Parametric investigations are carried out to illustrate the effects of dispersion type of the graphene platelet (GPL), weight fraction of the GPL, thickness of the panel, radius of the panel and parameters of elastic foundation on the load–deflection curves of the FG-GPLRC shell panels. Some complex load–deflection curves of the FG-GPLRC cylindrical and spherical shell panels resting on elastic foundations may be useful for future references.