Thermo-electro-mechanical shape morphing of structures using smart piezoelectric laminates

Abstract

Smart composite laminates (SCLs) consist of active piezoelectric layers bonded to or embedded in a host structure to form self–adaptive systems. The importance of SCLs is evident in their potential use for shape morphing, self–health monitoring, and active vibration control. In this paper, the effect of temperature upon shape morphing of an SCL plate subject to coupled electro-mechanical inputs is investigated. Specifically, fully coupled field equations are developed for an SCL plate in which the mechanical displacement is described in terms of the third order shear deformation hypothesis and the experienced geometric nonlinearity in terms of von Kármán’s strain–displacement relationships. The nonlinear thermo-electro-mechanical governing equations are converted into a tractable finite element form. Additionally, the temperature dependent behavior of the constituents of the SCL plate is also considered in our simulations. The work introduces two control modes to study the influence of temperature upon the morphed geometry subject to varied electro-mechanical loading. The results reveal that the change in temperature affects the stiffness of the plate and induces voltage shift in electrical outputs. SCL with surface bonded piezoelectric laminates is believed to have a better controllability than embedded ones, and SCL performs better in shape morphing at higher temperatures.