EXACT-SOLUTIONS FOR STATIC ANALYSIS OF INTELLIGENT STRUCTURES

Exact solutions for static analysis of simply supported rectangular plate-type intelligent structures are presented. The intelligent structure proposed here is composed of a laminated substrate of graphite/epoxy composite coupled with distributed sensor and actuator layers of a biaxially polarized piezoelectric polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The study aims at investigating the capability of the actuator and sensor layers to cause and sense the deformations, respectively, of the substrate of the intelligent structure. The results show that the effectiveness of the piezoelectric actuator layer to cause induced strain actuation in the structure significantly increases with the decrease in the length to thickness ratio of the substrate.