Effective Properties of Carbon Nanotube and Piezoelectric Fiber Reinforced Hybrid Smart Composites

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(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]