A multilayered piezoelectric shell theory

This paper presents a two-dimensional theory for the analysis of piezoelectric shells. The theory is based on an hybrid approach in which the continuity conditions for both mechanical and electric unknowns at layer interfaces as well as the imposed conditions on the bounding surfaces and at the interfaces are independently satisfied. Then, the piezoelectric boundary-value problem is stated using such kind of mechanical displacements and electrostatic potential, in conjunction with the coupled piezoelectric constitutive law. The accuracy of the proposed theory is assessed through investigation of significant problems, for which an exact three-dimensional solution is known.