Exact solutions for magneto-electro-elastic laminates in cylindrical bending

Analytical solutions are derived for the cylindrical bending of multilayered, linear, and anisotropic magneto-electro-elastic plates under simple-supported edge conditions. We construct the general solution in terms of a simple formalism for any homogeneous layer, from which any physical quantities can be solved for the given boundary conditions. For multilayered plates, we derive the solution in terms of the propagator matrices. A special feature of cylindrical bending, which distinguishes itself from the three-dimensional plate problem, is that the associated eigenvalues for any homogeneous layer are independent of the sinusoidal mode, and thus need to be solved only once. Typical numerical examples are also presented for a piezomagnetic plate, a two-layered piezoelectric/piezomagnetic plate, and a four layered piezoelectric/piezomagnetic plate, with different span-to-thickness ratios. In particular, the piezoelectric and piezomagnetic fields show certain interesting features, which give guidance on the development of piezoelectric/piezomagnetic thin-plate theories. Furthermore, it is shown that the variations of the elastic, electric, and magnetic quantities with thickness depend strongly upon the material property and layering, which could be useful in the analysis and design of smart composite structures with sensors/actuators. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.