Approximate dynamic boundary conditions for a thin piezoelectric layer

Approximate dynamic boundary conditions of different orders are derived for the case of a thin piezoelectric coating layer bonded to an elastic material. The approximate boundary conditions are derived using series expansions of the elastic displacements and the electric potential in the thickness coordinate of the layer. All the expansion functions are then eliminated with the aid of the equations of motion and boundary/interface conditions of the layer. This results in boundary conditions on the elastic material that may be truncated to different orders in the thickness of the layer to obtain approximate boundary conditions. The approximate boundary conditions may be used as a replacement for the piezoelectric layer and thus simplify the analysis significantly. Numerical examples show that the approximate boundary conditions give good results for low frequencies and/or thin piezoelectric layers.