Response and control of smart laminates using a refined hybrid plate model

Abstract

The dynamic response of smart composite/sandwich laminates and its control is studied using a refined hybrid plate theory to model the coupled electromechanical field problem in the present study. The proposed plate model consists of a refined plate theory and layerwise theory for through-thickness representation of structural deformation (mechanical field) and electric potential, respectively. The refined plate theory has the elegance that it ensures interlaminar shear stress continuity as well as stress free conditions at the plate top and bottom surfaces with the unknowns at the reference plane only. To have any arbitrary through-thickness variation of electric potential due to the presence of embedded piezoelectric layers, the layerwise theory is used. Though it requires unknowns at all the interfaces, they are eliminated from the final system of equations. The in-plane variations of unknowns at the reference plane for structural deformation and those for the electric potential at the different interfaces are approximated by the finite element technique. As the proposed plate model requires C1 continuity of transverse displacement at the element interfaces, a new rectangular element is developed where this requirement is fully ensured. Finally, numerical examples are solved to study the different aspects of the present problem.