Analytical investigation of laminated arches with extension and shear piezoelectric actuators

Static deformations in symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply laminated arches with extension and shear piezoelectric actuators are investigated. The state space approach is used to generate exact solutions for the static response of cross-ply smart arches for arbitrary boundary conditions. A rigorous first order shear deformation arch theory is used in the analysis. Deflections are computed for thirty layer arches with various lamination schemes and boundary conditions incorporating piezoelectric actuators. The feasibility of using extension and shear mode actuators in smart arches is investigated. It is observed that an antisymmetric cross ply cantilever arch with a shear piezoelectric actuator provides twice tip deflection more than that with extension piezoelectric actuators.