Influence of interphase on the multi-physics coupled frequency of three-phase smart magneto-electro-elastic composite plates

The present article researches the influence of piezoelectric interphase thickness on the coupled frequency response of three-phase smart magneto-electro-elastic (TPS-MEE) plates with the aid of Reddy's third-order shear deformation theory (RTSDT). A three-phase smart composite constituted of CoFe2O4 piezomagnetic matrix embedded with carbon fibers in the piezoelectric shell is considered for evaluation. The coupling characteristics of the smart carbon/PZT-5A (PZT-7A)/CoFe2O4 composites significantly changes with the interphase thickness of piezoelectric interphase. Thereby the stiffness and the natural frequency of the structure composed of these three-phase MEE materials drastically changes. A finite element (FE) formulation has been derived incorporating Hamilton's principle. The equations of motion are obtained through condensation technique. The results reveal a significant effect of interphase thickness on the natural frequency of the three-phase smart magneto-electroelastic plate. Further, a special attention has been paid on evaluating the influence of carbon fiber/piezoelectric volume fraction on the free vibration behaviour of TPS-MEE plate. Also, a parametric study has been performed to investigate the effect of boundary conditions, aspect ratio and length-to-width ratio.