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We propose a new hybrid piezoelectric composite comprised of armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes and piezoelectric fibers as reinforcements embedded in a conventional polymer matrix. Effective piezoelectric and elastic properties of this composite have been determined by a micromechanical analysis. Values of the effective piezoelectric coefficient [e.sub.31] of this composite that accounts for the in-plane actuation and of effective elastic properties are found to be significantly higher than those of the existing 1-3 piezoelectric composites without reinforced with carbon nanotubes. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3063633]

This paper deals with the derivation of exact solutions for the static analysis of functionally graded (FG) plates integrated with a layer of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite (PFRC) material. The layer of the PFRC material acts as the distributed actuator of the FG plates. The Young's modulus of the FG plate is assumed to vary exponentially along the thickness of the plate while the Poisson's ratio is assumed to be constant over the domain of the plate. The numerical values of the exact solutions are presented for both thick and thin smart FG plates and indicate that the activated PFRC layer potentially counteracts the deformations of the FG plates due to mechanical load. The through-thickness behavior of the plates revealed that the coupling of bending and extension takes place in the FG plates even if the PFRC layer is not subjected to the applied voltage. The solutions also revealed that the activated PFRC layer is more effective in controlling the deformations of the FG plates when the layer is attached to the surface of the FG plate with minimum stiffness than when it is attached to the surface of the same with maximum stiffness. The solutions of this benchmark problem may be useful for verifying the other approximate and numerical models of the smart functionally graded plates for which exact solutions cannot be derived. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2165230]

In this paper a zeroth-order shear deformation theory has been derived for static and dynamic analysis of laminated composite plates. The responses obtained by the theory for symmetric and antisymmetric laminates are compared with the existing solutions. The comparison firmly establishes that this new shear deformation theory can be used for both thick and thin laminated composite plates with high accuracy. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1558077]