A SIMPLE FINITE-ELEMENT FORMULATION FOR A LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATE WITH PIEZOELECTRIC LAYERS

A simple finite element formulation for a composite plate with laminat ed piezoelectric layers is presented. Classical laminate theory with e lectromechanical induced actuation and variational principles are used to formulate the equations of motion for a Mindlin plate element base d upon uniformly reduced numerical integration and hourglass stabiliza tion. The equations of motion are discretized with four-node, 24 degre e of freedom quadrilateral shell elements with one electrical degree o f freedom per piezoelectric layer. Performance of the finite element f ormulation developed here has been tested and compared to the experime ntal and analytical results documented in literature.