Dynamics of wave propagation in carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced piezocomposite cylindrical shells affected by nanotube agglomeration is investigated in this study for the first time by developing an analytical approach incorporating existing theories and models. The Mori-Tanaka micromechanics model in combination of the first-order shear deformation shell theory and wave propagation solution are employed to determine wave propagation characteristics of piezocomposite cylindrical shells reinforced with agglomerated CNTs. The effects of both partial and complete nanotube agglomeration on the effective elastic properties and wave dynamics are examined within various axial and circumferential wave numbers for different wave modes by solving an eigenvalue problem. It is found that nanotube agglomeration leads to the reduction of wave phase velocity as a result of decrease in the effective elastic properties. The developed methodology in this study can be used for analysis of the data of structural health monitoring by the non-destructive testing (NDT) in estimating the degree of nanotube agglomeration in nanocomposites.

在这项研究中，首次通过研究结合现有理论和模型的分析方法，研究了碳纳米管（CNT）增强的压电复合材料圆柱壳中受纳米管团聚影响的波传播动力学。结合一阶剪切变形壳理论和波传播解的Mori-Tanaka微力学模型，确定了附聚碳纳米管增强的压电复合圆柱壳的波传播特性。通过解决一个特征值问题，研究了部分和全部纳米管团聚对有效弹性性能和波动力学的影响，这些波在不同的波模的轴向和周向波数范围内均存在差异。已经发现，由于有效弹性性能的降低，纳米管的团聚导致波相速度的降低。这项研究中开发的方法可以通过无损检测（NDT）来分析结构健康监测数据，以估算纳米复合材料中纳米管的团聚程度。