Dynamic analysis of structures with piezoelectric actuators based on thermal analogy method

Abstract

The thermal analogy method is presented to predict the dynamic behavior of complex structures with piezoelectric actuators. Based on the analogy between the converse piezoelectric effect and thermoelastic effect, an applied electric field is modeled as a thermal load and piezoelectric strain coefficients characterizing an actuator are input as thermal expansion coefficients. Thus a voltage actuation can be exactly simulated using conventional tri-dimensional elastic elements with the thermal actuation rather than using piezoelectric elements. Finally, numerical results in terms of the transient response of a cantilever beam with surface bonded piezoelectric actuators demonstrates the validity of this method, which can be used to assist in the design of complex smart structures and implementation of piezoelectric control systems.