Effect of the actuation phase on the SIF in delaminated composites with embedded piezoelectric layers

Abstract

The effect of the phase of harmonic actuation on the stress intensity factor (SIF) for delaminated composites with embedded piezoelectric (PZT) layers is studied. A plane-stress finite-element model using a four-node quadrilateral element having one active degree of freedom per node is developed. A fracture mechanics-based approach, which uses a general purpose computational scheme to obtain the strain energy release rate and the SIF due to delamination in orthotropic laminated composite, is employed. The performance of the finite-element result is first validated using the results reported in published literature. A composite double cantilever beam specimen with three embedded PZT layers around the tip of the delamination is considered for actuation. Numerical simulations on the effects of actuation voltage and phase on mode-II SIF are carried out. The results show that for a specified voltage amplitude to the embedded actuators, the actuation phase can have a significant influence on delamination growth.