A study of three-dimensional four-step braided piezo-ceramic composites by the homogenization method

Piezoelectric media are intrinsically anisotropic. The electric field and the elastic field are coupled in this type of material, which renders the mathematical or theoretical analysis rather difficult. In this paper, we develop an incompatible displacement finite-element method (FEM) using homogenization theory to examine the effective elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric properties of three-dimensional four-step piezoelectric braided composites. The variation of the mechanical and electric properties as a function of the fiber volume fraction has been obtained for different numerical tests. The present study provides a useful local/global method for the analysis of 3-D braided composites.