An analytical solution for the flexural response of intelligent composite and sandwich panels

The objective of the paper is to present a simple analytical solution to st udy the flexural behaviour of intelligent (composite and sandwich) panels s ubjected to electromechanical loads. For this purpose, panels with simply s upported edge restraints are considered, and a one-term solution, which is the exact solution for the cases considered, is developed. The first-order shear deformation theory is used in this study. The constitutive equations employed herein not only provide the requisite electromechanical coupling b ut also account for the stiffness of the actuator and sensor layers apart f rom substrate. The displacement field and sensor voltage are obtained by mi nimizing the total (electro-mechanical) potential. While constitutive relat ions are used to compute the inplane stress-state, the transverse normal an d shear stresses are computed using 3-D elasticity equilibrium equations. A series of numerical examples is solved to study the influence of actuator loads (applied voltage) on these displacement and stress fields. A few inte resting observations are made regarding the variation of interlaminar shear stresses at the actuator/substrate and sensor/substrate interface.