Saint-Venant's problem for a second-order piezoelectric prismatic bar

For a homogeneous, transversely isotropic, second-order piezoelectric and i nfinitesimally prebent, pre-polarized and prestretched prismatic bar, we fi nd second-order Saint-Venant solutions. It is found that the electric field alone does not introduce any bending in the second-order piezoelectric bar . However, the electric held induced by the bending of the bar can be used to ascertain the magnitude and direction of the bending vector. The curvatu re of the centroidal axis of the bar can be changed by the simultaneous app lication of the electric field and the bending moment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.