A Numerical Strategy for Multistable Nanocomposite Shells

This work presents an efficient continuation strategy based on the Riks method to describe the stable and of unstable branches of the response of carbon nanotubes (CNT)/polymer nanocomposite shells. Exploiting the superior properties of this class of nanostructured materials in the context of elastic instabilities and multistability has the potential to pave the way towards a variety of novel smart engineering applications. The equilibrium paths and the static bifurcations of CNT nanocomposites are numerically investigated highlighting the effects of material parameters such as the orientation and weight fraction of high aspect ratio CNTs integrated in a thermoplastic polymer.