Bending and buckling analysis of smart composite plates with and without internal flaw using an inverse hyperbolic shear deformation theory

A finite element formulation based on inverse hyperbolic shear deformation theory (IHSDT) for handling bending and buckling analysis of a smart composite plates is developed. The governing equation of a piezolaminated composite plate is derived using Hamilton’s variational principle. An intelligent structure with piezoelectric material perfectly bonded to the top and bottom surface of a laminated composite plate is considered for the present work. A Matlab programme has been developed using the present finite element formulation. The numerical results were obtained and compared with the available literature. Comparison of present results with those in literatures shows the effectiveness and excellent accuracy of model. The validation of recently developed IHSDT has been proved for a smart structure by this study and some numerical examples showing the variations in the buckling behaviour of a smart plate for various parametric variations are presented. Finally significant numerical examples of deflection control and enhancement of buckling load capacity is presented for composite plates with internal flaw. Comparison studies depicting the effectiveness of using a piezo patch only at centre instead of piezolayers are also presented. These specific applications proves the contribution of present work to be of realistic nature.