Active layered composites: A variable kinematics approach with stimulus expansion model for piezo-actuators and hydrogels

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Active materials are often applied in the form of plate-like smart composites. Therein, they are combined with other (active or passive) materials that serve different purposes, such as providing mechanical counterpoints, protection against multi-field influences, or electrical functionality. Furthermore, sensoric layers can be included. For an enhanced description of the mechanical response of Soft-Hard Active-Passive Embedded Structures (SHAPES) in plate configuration, we combine two approaches: (i) A variable kinematics approach called sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation (sGUF), which allows the choice of adequate kinematics for each physical layer, and (ii) the Stimulus-Expansion-Model (SEM) for description of active behavior. We present results for SHAPES with polymer gel layers and for piezo-ceramic layers. The current sGUF-SEM modeling approach has been protypically implemented along with a Navier-type solution. This allows the assessment of combinations of different passive and active materials inside plate-like composites. Excellent agreement with reference solutions from literature and/or from three-dimensional Finite Element simulations in commercial software tools has been found. The promising preliminary results presented in this work suggest further steps to be considered: the implementation of sGUF-SEM into more general numerical solution methods, such as Finite Element or Ritz methods, and the integration of the physics of additional active materials.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1058-1075
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of intelligent material systems and structures
Volume36
Issue number15 Special Issue: 2023 ECCOMAS - Part 1
Early online date9 Dec 2024
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-2370-8381/work/175218345

Keywords

Keywords

  • hydrogels, piezo-ceramics, Smart materials, stimulus expansion model, variable kinematics approach