A finite-element static analysis of smart turbine blades

Piezoelectric materials are becoming increasingly popular in the emerging field of adaptive structures. In particular, active control of wings and helicopter rotors using these materials is being pursued currently. The present work is an effort at modeling piezoelectric actuated blades for turbomachinery applications. A laminated general quadrilateral shell finite element with eight nodes and curved edges is developed for this purpose. the mathematical formulation of the element is described. Experiments have been conducted on a commercially available piezoceramic bimorph. Our finite-element and experimental results are shown to match very well. The laminated element developed is then used to perform a static analysis of typical turbomachinery blades. Effects of the angle of pre-twisting and aspect ratio have been studied. PVDF and PZT piezoelectric materials have been compared.