Static and free vibration isogeometric analysis of laminated composite plates integrated with piezoelectric using Reissner- Mindlin theory

This paper presents an isogeometric analysis approach for static and free vibration analysis of laminated composite plates covered with piezoelectric layers using the Reissner-Mindlin theory. Isogeometric analysis (IGA) aims at simplifying the Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) by using the functions describe the geometry (CAD) and the unknown fields (Analysis). The isogeometric approach has here been employed that utilizes the Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) of quadratic, cubic and quartic orders to approximate the variables defining geometry as well as the unknown functions. Using the Reissner-Mindlin first order shear deformation theory requires the C0-continuity of generalized displacements and the NURBS basis functions are well suited for this purpose. The electric potential is assumed to vary linearly through the thickness for each piezoelectric sublayer. To alleviate the shear locking problem, a stabilization technique is employed in the stiffness formulation. Since study of the performance and accuracy of IGA in solving laminated composite plates is one of the main objectives of this article. Several numerical examples are presented and compared with those available in the literature. The obtained results indicate desirable accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach.