Free vibration and stability analysis of piezolaminated plates using the finite element method

Abstract

Free vibration and stability analysis of piezolaminated plates is presented using the finite element method based on higher order shear deformation theory. The distribution of electric potential is assumed as linear through the thickness for each piezoelectric layer. The variation of the temperature field is neglected for the orthotropic layers of the laminate and for the piezoelectric layer. An eight node quadratic isoparametric quad element is employed in the finite element formulation. Numerous parametric studies are conducted for free vibration and stability analysis of a piezolaminated plate with different electric conditions of the piezolayer. The emphasis is on examining the influence of boundary conditions, ply orientation and plate aspect ratio on the free vibration and stability analysis of simply supported piezoelectric laminated plates. The results are verified with other numerical solutions available in the literature and are found to be in good agreement.