A higher order temperature theory for coupled thermo-piezoelectric-mechanical modeling of smart composites

A higher order temperature ®eld that satis®es the thermal surface boundary conditions, necessary for accurate modeling of temperature distribution through the thickness of laminated structures, is developed. The theory is implemented in the coupled thermo-piezoelectric-mechanical analysis of composite laminates with surface bonded piezoelectric actuators. A higher order displacement theory is used to de®ne the mechanical displacement ®eld. Therefore, transverse shear e€ects are modeled accurately and the developed procedure is applicable to both thin and moderately thick laminates. The mathematical model is implemented using ®nite element technique. Numerical results are presented for a composite laminated plate, with one edge ®xed, subjected to thermal loading. Correlations with ANSYS, for both the temperature ®eld and the displacement ®eld, are presented to validate the higher order temperature theory. Composite laminates of various stacking sequences are studied to investigate the e€ects on temperature ®eld and displacement ®eld. The results obtained using the coupled theory are compared with those obtained using the standard uncoupled theory. It is shown that thermal coupling a€ects plate de¯ection and control authority due to actuation. 7