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
JournalJournal of intelligent material systems and structures
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 9 Dec 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

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

Keywords

Keywords

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