Piezoelectric Fiber Reinforced Composite Research Articles

Performance of Smart Damping Treatment Using Piezoelectric Fiber-Reinforced Composites

This study deals with the active constrained layer damping (ACLD) of laminated composite plates to demonstrate the performance of piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite (PFRC) layer as the constraining layer of ACLD treatment. A finite element model is developed for the smart composite plates integrated with the patches of ACLD treatment. The performance of the constraining PFRC layer has been investigated for active damping of thin symmetric and antisymmetric crossply and antisymmetric angle-ply laminated composite plates. The main concern of this study has been focused on investigating the significant effect of variation of piezoelectric fiber orientation in the PFRC layer on enhancing the damping characteristics of the laminated substrate plates, and the fiber angle in the PFRC layer for which the control authority of the patches becomes maximum has been determined.

Performance of piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composites for active structural-acoustic control of laminated composite plates

This paper deals with the active structural acoustic control of thin laminated composite plates using piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite (PFRC) material for the constraining layer of active constrained layer damping (ACLD) treatment. A finite element model is developed for the laminated composite plates integrated with the patches of ACLD treatment to describe the coupled structural-acoustic behavior of the plates enclosing an acoustic cavity. The performance of the PFRC layers of the patches has been investigated for active control of sound radiated from thin symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply laminated composite plates into the acoustic cavity. The significant effect of variation of piezoelectric fiber orientation in the PFRC layer on controlling the structure-borne sound radiated from thin laminated plates has been investigated to determine the fiber angle in the PFRC layer for which the structural-acoustic control authority of the patches becomes maximum.

Finite Element Analysis of Smart Structures Containing Piezoelectric Fiber-Reinforced Composite Actuator

Static analysis of laminated smart composite plates integrated with a piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite (PFRC) layer acting as distributed actuators has been carried out by a generalized-energy-based finite element model. A simple first-order shear deformation theory is used for deriving the model. Eight noded isoparametric serendipity elements are used for discretizing the domain. The performance of the PFRC layer has been investigated for both symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply laminated composite shell substrates. The effect of piezoelectric fiber orientation on the control authority of the PFRC layer has also been studied.

Active control of laminated composite beams using a piezoelectric fiber reinforcedcomposite layer

The effectiveness of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite (PFRC) material in thedevelopment of new actuators as elements of smart structures has been theoreticallyinvestigated. The piezoelectric fibers considered in this study are longitudinally oriented toyield the bending mode of actuation. Micromechanics is used to predict the effectivemechanical properties and the effective electromechanical constant of such compositeswhich gives rise to actuation in the fiber direction when subjected to an electricfield transverse to the fiber direction. These effective properties are useful for theanalysis of smart beams. A micromechanics study reveals that beyond a criticalfiber volume fraction, this electromechanical constant is improved over that ofthe piezoelectric material alone. The performance of this new material used asdistributed actuators has been investigated through active constrained layer damping(ACLD) of laminated composite beams in which the constraining layer is made ofpiezoelectric fiber reinforced composite. A finite element model has been developed todescribe the dynamic behavior of a laminated composite beam coupled with activeconstrained layer damping (ACLD) treatment. The controlled response is illustratedthrough plots of frequency response functions. The results indicate that these newpiezoelectric composites may be superior candidate materials for use in developinglightweight smart structures, as compared with the existing piezoelectric materialsalone.

A delamination detection model for composite beams using PFRC sensor/actuator

The presence of a delamination in a laminated composite structure can significantly change the behavior and dynamic characteristics of the structure. Hence, it is necessary and important to develop an effective method to identify the loci and sizes of delamination embedded in a laminated composite structure. In this paper, a one-dimensional dynamic analytical model is proposed to detect a single delamination embedded in a laminated composite beam using piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite (PFRC) sensor/actuator. Using the present model, the first three order frequencies, sensor charge output (SCO), normalized sensor charge output (NSCO) and their distributions along the beam can be predicted, when the beam system is excited by a PFRC actuator. The presence, locus and size of a delamination can be determined by comparing the SCO or NSCO distribution along the length for the beams with and without delamination. Then, a comparison of the first three order frequencies between the present analytical and finite element analysis models is conducted to validate the proposed model. Finally, an extensive numerical study is conducted using the present model to investigate the effects of major geometric parameters and electric field on the SCO and NSCO distributions.

A Micro-Electromechanics Model for the 3-D PFRC Materials

A micro-electromechanics model is proposed for predicting the effective electroelastic and thickness electromechanical coupling constants of 3-D piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite (PFRC) materials. A numerical study is carried out to investigate the effects of some geometrical parameters and composite constituent properties on the effective constants for 3-D PFRC materials. Choosing the optimal PFRC microstructure parameters and composite constituents using the present model can optimize the 3-D PFRC material performance. The comparison between the predicted results of 3-D PFRC materials and the existing experimental results of the 3-3 connectivity Pz34/PVDF piezoelectric composite is conducted. A good agreement exists for the dielectric constant " 33/" o, however a discrepancy is noted for the thickness electromechanical coupling constant Kt.

Micromechanics models for non-linear behavior of piezo-electric fiber reinforced composite materials

Abstract Two non-linear micromechanics models, referred to as `XY piezo-electric fiber reinforced composite (PFRC) non-linear model' and `YX PFRC non-linear model', are proposed for predicting the non-linear behavior of unidirectional PFRC materials, which are subjected to a high monotonic electric field. These two models are developed following the similar procedures for the XY model and YX model, proposed previously for the linear properties of woven composite materials. Emphasis in this paper is placed on the lowest order of non-linearities, that is, dependent variables depend quadratically on independent variables. The required closed-form formulas for the effective electroelastic constants of PFRC materials are obtained using the non-linear constitutive equations for purely piezo-electric materials and the iso-field assumptions. The single- and double-loading conditions are introduced when deriving these closed-form formulas. For the sake of validating the present non-linear micromechanics models, a numerical study is carried out for four different types of materials including LiNbO3/piezo-polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), PZT-5H/PVDF, PZN-4.5%PT/PVDF and PZT-7A/Araldite D PFRC materials. It is noted that the predicted variation trends of T3, D3 with S3 and E3 for the first three PFRC materials are consistent with those for the corresponding purely piezo-electric ceramics or crystals. For the effective properties along the fiber direction, the relevant closed-form formulas obtained using the present non-linear models are exactly the same as those derived based on the rule of mixtures. The effective linear constants C11, C12, C13, C22, C23, e31, e32, e33 and e33 predicted using the present models are consistent with those proposed by other researchers. For PZT-7A/Araldite D PFRC materials, the predicted results of S11+S12 and e33T/eo correlate well with the measured results available in the literature.

Micro-electromechanics models for piezoelectric-fiber-reinforced composite materials

In this paper, two micro-electromechanics models, i.e. a rectangle model and a rectangle-cylinder model, are proposed for predicting the elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric constants for piezoelectric-fiber-reinforced composite (PFRC) materials under both single load and multiple load conditions. The closed-form formulae for these two models are derived by using a linear piezoelectric theory and iso-field assumptions. A comparison is carried out for the electroelastic constants predicted by the rectangle model under single load and multiple load conditions. A numerical study is also conducted to investigate the effects of geometrical parameters on the effective electroelastic constants, and to discuss the convergence of the rectangle-cylinder model. The results predicted using the present rectangle and rectangle-cylinder models correlate favorably with the finite-element analysis (FEA) results for the elastic constants, and with the existing experimental results for d 33 and ε 33 T/ ε o.