Date of Award

2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Engineering Science

Program

Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Supervisor

Dr. Liying Jiang

Second Advisor

Dr. John R. Dryden

Third Advisor

Dr. E. Savory

Abstract

This thesis provides a study of the bending behavior of a circularly curved functionally graded piezoelectric cantilever actuator under an applied electric load and heat conduction. A curved functionally graded piezoelectric actuator with sandwich structure is also studied under an applied electric load and a heat load. As a special case, the curved piezoelectric actuator is assumed to have graded property for the piezoelectric parameter 831 only in the thickness direction, which is expanded in Taylor series. Based on the theory of linear piezoelectricity, the analytical formulations are developed by introducing the Airy stress function. Numerical simulations are made to show the effects of material gradient and heat conduction on the bending behavior of the actuators. It is found that the electroelastic fields of the curved actuator are significantly influenced by the thermal load. The results will be very helpful for the design and optimization of curved functionally graded piezoelectric actuators when these devices experience heat transfer.

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