Modeling and simulation of macro-fiber composite layered smart structures

Piezo fiber composite material, macro-fiber composite (MFC), is increasingly applied in engineering, due to its high flexibility and strong actuation forces. This paper develops a linear electro-mechanically coupled finite element (FE) model for composite laminated thin-walled smart structures bonded with orthotropic MFCs having arbitrary piezo fiber orientation. Two types of MFCs are considered, namely, MFC-d31 in which the d31d31 effect dominates the actuation forces, and MFC-d33 which mainly uses the d33d33 effect. The FE model is developed based on the Reissner–Mindlin hypothesis using linear piezoelectric constitutive equations. The present results are compared with ANSYS and experimental results reported in the literature (Bowen et al., 2011). Afterwards, isotropic or composite structures with cross-ply laminates, integrated with MFC-d31 or -d33 patches having different fiber orientation, are simulated under a certain electric voltage on the MFC patches.