Analysis of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composites as new smart materials for active control of flexible structures

Abstract

This paper deals with the prediction of the effective piezoelectric coefficient of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composites (PFRC) which measures the induced stress in the fiber direction due to the applied electric field in the direction transverse to the fiber. It has been found that when the fiber volume fraction exceeds a critical value, this effective piezoelectric coefficient becomes significantly greater than the corresponding coefficient of the piezoelectric material of the fiber. In order to assess the performance of the proposed PFRC as a new actuator material, the active constrained layer damping (ACLD) of laminated beam has been investigated. The constraining layer of the ACLD treatment is a layer of the proposed PFRC. The controlled response of the beam is compared with that when the constraining layer of the ACLD treatment is made of piezoelectric material of the fiber. It has been observed that the PFRC performs better than the piezoelectric material alone.