Boundary elements analysis of adhesively bonded piezoelectric active repair

This paper presents the analysis of active piezoelectric patches for cracked structures by the boundary element method. A two-dimensional boundary integral formulation based on the multidomain technique is used to model cracks and to assemble the multi-layered piezoelectric patches to the host damaged structures. The fracture mechanics behavior of the repaired structures is analyzed for both perfect and imperfect interface between patches and host beams. The imperfect interface, representing the adhesive between two different layers, is modeled by using a “spring model” that involves linear relationships between the interface tractions, in normal and tangential directions, and the respective discontinuity in displacements. Numerical analyses performed on a cracked cantilever beam repaired by single and multi-layered patches are presented. It is pointed out that the adhesive deeply influences the performances of the repair as highlighted by an increasing of the repairing voltage values with respect to perfect bonding case.