Three dimensional analysis of piezoelectric circular cylindrical shell of finite length

An exact elasticity solution for a simply supported piezoelectric circular cylindrical shell of finite length is presented. Different boundary conditions are considered, which correspond to the respective situations when it is acted as sensor or actuator. The stresses, displacements and electric potential distributions are shown. Our results show that the distributions depend strongly on the boundary conditions and can not be justified by purely elastic structures. The presented results can be used not only to assess various approximate theories but also to enhance the understanding of the response behavior of piezoelectric structures.