Sandwich structures with imperfect bonding under anti-plane deformations

The decay of Saint-Venant end effect for the anti-plane deformation of piezoelectric-elastic sandwich structure is studied theoretically. The end of the sandwich structure is subjected to a set of self-equilibrated electro-elastic loads. The upper and lower surfaces of the sandwich structure are assumed to be traction-free and subjected to two kinds of electric boundary conditions. These electric boundary conditions are electrically short and electrically open. The characteristic equations for decay rate are derived. The numerical examples are given to show that the electric boundary conditions, volume fraction and the degree of the imperfect bonding have significant influences on the decay rate.