Elastic analysis of laminated composite plates in cylindrical bending due to piezoelectric actuators

An analysis of laminated composite plates forced into cylindrical bending by the application of voltages to piezoelectric actuators attached to the top and bottom surfaces is performed using the equations of linear elasticity. In the treatment the actuator is modeled as a thin surface film and mixed edge conditions are employed to simulate simple supports. The results obtained from the linear elastic solution are compared with those obtained using the elementary equations of the extension and flexure of thin composite plates, which are the ones usually employed in practice. When the properties of adjacent laminates are very different the comparison reveals that for large span-length-to-thickness ratios the agreement is quite good but for small ones it is not good at all. The existence of a shearing stress singularity under the edge of the fully electroded actuator is exhibited.