A study of the polarization–electric-field nonlinear effect on the response of smartcomposite plates

Abstract

Polarization–electric-field (P–E) interaction results in rendering the stress tensor non-symmetric and in a nonlinear forceterm in the equilibrium equation. In this paper, an attempt is made to study these (P–E) nonlinear effects on the static response of laminated composite plates with piezo actuators.Further, this paper also focuses on finding the most effective piezo lay-up and plyorientation which gives the maximum deflections. Four different piezo lay-up configurationsand three ply orientations are considered. It has been observed from the study thatwidth-wise strips show more transverse bending and twisting. However, full length piezolayers show maximum longitudinal bending. The results of nonlinear analysis show a moreconsiderable softening trend in deformations than that of the linear analysis in the case oflongitudinal bending and twisting. In the case of transverse bending this nonlineareffect shows a hardening trend. Further, it has been observed that the influence ofP–E nonlinearity depends on the stiffness of the core material, the geometric arrangement ofpiezo patches, the boundary conditions and the actuation voltage.