Bending Behavior of Hybrid-Actuated Piezoelectric Sandwich Beams

The finite element analysis is presented for hybrid-actuated piezoelectric sandwich beam structures. The hybrid actuation is modelled by incorporating a transversely polarized, d₃₁-based extension actuation lamina and an axially polarized, d₁₅-based shear actuation lamina. Further the bending behavior of sandwich beams are evaluated for various boundary conditions with segmented actuators. The active stiffening effect is assessed through bending deflection behavior. The extension and shear actuators are collocated as well as noncollocated along the length of beam to see the combined actuation effort. It is observed that for the clamped-free case, the actuation effect is augmented with collocated actuators; however this trend is not followed in the other cases. Interestingly, the non-collocated actuators show better cumulative actuation effort for different boundary conditions except in the hinged-hinged case, where shear actuation appears to be predominant. As extension and shear actuations have distinctive features, both can be employed in a non-collocated fashion for better control action.