Shell finite element for smart piezoelectric composite plate/shell structures and ills application to the study of active vibration control

In this paper the mechanics for the coupled analysis of piezolaminated plat e and piezolaminated curvilinear shell structures and their vibration contr ol performance are considered. A plate/shell structure with thin PZT piezoc eramic layers embedded on top and bottom surfaces to act as distributed sen sor and actuator is considered. A C degrees continuous, shear flexible, nin e-noded quadrilateral shell element derived based on field consistency prin ciple has been used. In the case of elements formulated based on field cons istency principle, all the energy terms are numerically evaluated using a f ull integration scheme, irrespective of the thickness parameter. This eleme nt has been developed to include the stiffness, mass and electromechanical coupling effects of the piezoelectric sensor and actuator layers. Active vi bration control performance of plates and shells with distributed piezoelec tric sensors and actuators have been studied using this element. The contro l effectiveness of various control strategies are studied. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.