LAMINATE PLATE-THEORY FOR SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED INDUCED STRAIN ACTUATORS

Classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) is applied to a laminate plate with induced strain actuators, such as piezoceramic patch, bonded to its surface or embedded within the laminate to develop an induced strain actuation theory that allows for the actuator patch to be spatially distributed. When piezoceramic patches are subjected to voltage fields, the equivalent external forces induced by piezoceramic patches can be determined upon the assumption of free constraint for the expansion or contraction of piezoceramic patches. This assumption is generally done in thermal expansion problem. Several examples, including pure bending and pure extension, are illustrated. For the case of pure bending, a comparison between the current work and that of Dimitriadis et al. (1989) is given. In addition, an orthotropic angle-ply laminate with an embedded piezoceramic patch is presented to show the coupling of bending and extension.