Nonlinear free and forced vibration of simply supported shear deformable laminated plates with piezoelectric actuators

This paper deals with the nonlinear vibration and dynamic response of simply supported shear deformable cross-ply laminated plates with piezoelectric actuators subjected to mechanical, electrical and thermal loads. The material properties are assumed to be independent of the temperature and electric field. Theoretical formulations are based on the higher order shear deformation plate theory and general von Karman-type equation, which includes thermo-piezoelectric effects. Due to the bending and stretching coupling effects, a nonlinear static problem is first solved to determine the pre-vibration deformation caused by temperature field and control voltage. By adding an incremental dynamic state to the pre-vibration state, the equations of motion are solved by an improved perturbation technique to determine nonlinear frequencies and dynamic responses of hybrid laminated plates. The numerical illustrations concern nonlinear vibration characteristics of unsymmetric cross-ply laminated plates. The results presented show the effects of temperature rise, applied voltage and stacking sequence on the nonlinear vibration and dynamic response of the plates. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.