Nonlinear flexural analysis of single/doubly curved smart composite shell panels integrated with PFRC actuator

This article deals with the geometrical nonlinear flexural behaviour of laminated composite shell panels integrated with the piezoelectric fibre reinforced composite (PFRC) layer. In this study, the PFRC embedded panel has been modeled mathematically using Green-Lagrange nonlinear kinematics in the framework of the higher-order shear deformation theory. Moreover, the quadratic variation of the electric potential has been considered. The nonlinear finite element steps have been adopted for the discretisation of the domain. Further, the principle of minimum potential energy in conjunction with the direct iterative method is implemented to compute the desired responses. The nonlinear numerical solutions have been validated by comparing the responses with those of the available published results. The actuating capability of the present PFRC layer to suppress the linear and the nonlinear deformations of the smart composite shell panels have been investigated by using the proposed higher-order nonlinear model. Finally, the effect of different geometrical parameters (thickness ratio, aspect ratio, curvature ratio, support constraints, shell geometry and piezoelectric fibre angle) on the nonlinear static behaviour of smart composite panels has been examined by solving various numerical examples. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.