A refined theory of laminated composite plates with piezoelectric laminae is presented. The formulation is based on linear piezoelectricity, and includes the coupling between mechanical deformations and the charge equations of electrostatics. The theory developed herein is hybrid in the sense that an equivalent single layer theory is used for the mechanical displacement field whereas the potential function for piezoelectric laminae is modeled using layerwise discretization in the thickness direction. For the equivalent single layer, the third-order shear deformation theory of Reddy is used. This hybrid feature is good in that it demonstrates a way in which multilayered smart skin piezoelectric structures may be analyzed to accommodate multiple voltage inputs and/or sensor outputs.

Date Published: 5 May 1995
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 2442, Smart Structures and Materials 1995: Mathematics and Control in Smart Structures, (5 May 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.208863

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2442:
Smart Structures and Materials 1995: Mathematics and Control in Smart Structures
Vasundara V. Varadan, Editor(s)