Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

A comparison of buckling and postbuckling behavior of FGM plates

with piezoelectric ber reinforced composite actuators
Hui-Shen Shen
School of Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, Peoples Republic of China
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, Peoples Republic of China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Available online 23 June 2009
Keywords:
Functionally graded materials
Smart materials
Temperature-dependent properties
Buckling
Postbuckling

a b s t r a c t
Compressive postbuckling under thermal environments and thermal postbuckling due to a uniform temperature rise are presented for a simply supported, shear deformable functionally graded plate with piezoelectric ber reinforced composite (PFRC) actuators. The material properties of functionally graded
materials (FGMs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law
distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents, and the material properties of both
FGM and PFRC layers are assumed to be temperature-dependent. The governing equations are based
on a higher order shear deformation plate theory that includes thermo-piezoelectric effects. The initial
geometric imperfection of the plate is taken into account. A two step perturbation technique is employed
to determine buckling loads (temperature) and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the compressive and thermal postbuckling behaviors of perfect and imperfect, geometrically mid-plane symmetric FGM plates with fully covered or embedded PFRC actuators under different
sets of thermal and electric loading conditions. The results for monolithic piezoelectric actuator, which
is a special case in the present study, are compared with those of PFRC actuators. The results reveal that,
in the compressive buckling case, the applied voltage usually has a small effect on the postbuckling load
deection curves of the plate with PFRC actuators, whereas in the thermal buckling case, the effect of
applied voltage is more pronounced for the plate with PFRC actuators, compared to the results of the
same plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The laminated composite plates comprised of two different
materials have been widely used to satisfy high performance demands. However, stress singularities in such composites may occur
at the interface between two different materials. A functionally
graded material (FGM) is a new class of a two-component composite, in which the material properties are graded but continuous
particularly along the thickness direction. By gradually varying
the volume fraction of constituent materials, their material properties exhibit a smooth and continuous change from one surface to
another, thus eliminating interface problems and mitigating thermal stress concentrations. FGMs are now developed for general
use as structural components in extremely high temperature environments. Another recent advance in material and structural engineering is in the eld of smart structures which incorporates
adaptive materials. Therefore, the use of hybrid plate where a substrate made of FGMs is coupled with surface-bonded piezoelectric
actuator and/or sensor layers may become an important issue for

E-mail address: hsshen@mail.sjtu.edu.cn

0263-8223/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2009.06.005

developing advanced structures. Early work in this eld was focused on the vibration control of such plate structures [13].
Many studies have been reported on the postbuckling analysis
of FGM plates subjected to mechanical or thermal loading. Among
those, Yang and Shen [4] studied the postbuckling behavior of FGM
thin plates under fully clamped boundary conditions. This work
was then extended to the case of shear deformable FGM plates
with various boundary conditions and various possible initial geometric imperfections by Yang et al. [5]. Woo et al. [6] studied the
postbuckling behavior of FGM plates and shallow shells under edge
compressive loads and a temperature eld based on the higher
order shear deformation theory. Wu et al. [7] studied the postbuckling of FGM rectangular plates under various boundary conditions
subjected to a uniaxial compression or uniform temperature rise
based on the rst order shear deformation plate theory. In the
above studies, however, the materials properties were virtually assumed to be temperature-independent. Park and Kim [8] studied
thermal postbuckling and vibration of simply supported FGM
plates with temperature-dependent materials properties by using
nite element method. Prakash et al. [9] studied thermal postbuckling of FGM skew plates based on the shear deformable nite element approach. In their analysis the MoriTanaka scheme was

376

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

used to estimate the effective material properties. Shukla et al. [10]

studied the postbuckling of clamped FGM rectangular plates subjected to thermo-mechanical loads. In their analysis the temperature-dependent materials properties was considered and the
analytical approach was based on fast converging Chebyshev polynomials. It has been pointed out in Shen [11], that the governing
differential equations for an FGM plate are in identical forms as
those for unsymmetric cross-ply laminated plates, and applying
in-plane compressive edge loads to such plates will cause bending
curvature to appear. Consequently, the bifurcation buckling did not
exist due to the extension-bending coupling effect, as previously
proved by Leissa [12], Qatu and Leissa [13], and Aydogdu [14],
and the solutions are physically incorrect for simply supported
FGM rectangular plates subjected to in-plane compressive edge
loads and/or temperature variation.
Since this eld is relatively new, there have been few studies on
the compressive and/or thermal buckling response of FGM plates
containing piezoelectric layers. Liew et al. [15] studied thermal
postbuckling behavior of piezoelectric FGM plates with different
kinds of boundary conditions. In their analysis the material properties were assumed to be temperature-independent. They conrmed that the FGM plates with all four edges simply supported
(SSSS) have no bifurcation buckling temperature, even for the loading case of uniform temperature change. Obviously, when the FGM
plate is geometrically mid-plane symmetric, as reported in Birman
[16], and Feldman and Aboudi [17], a bifurcation buckling load under in-plane compressive edge loads and/or temperature variation
does exist. Shen [18] presented a postbuckling analysis for simply
supported, mid-plane symmetric FGM plates with fully covered or
embedded piezoelectric actuators subjected to the combined action of mechanical, thermal and electric loads. In his study, the
material properties were considered to be temperature-dependent
and the effect of temperature rise and applied voltage on the postbuckling response was reported. It is found that the applied voltage
has a small effect on the postbuckling loaddeection curves of
FGM hybrid laminated plates with immovable unloaded edges,
and it has almost no effect on the postbuckling loaddeection
curves of the same plate with movable edges. Moreover, buckling
of FGM plates with piezoelectric layers subjected to various nonuniform in-plane loads, along with heat and applied voltage, was
performed by Chen et al. [19] using the rst order shear deformation theory.
The commonly used piezoceramics are brittleness and usually
use as patched actuators and sensors. Piezoelectric composite
materials have emerged as the new class of smart materials. Mallik
and Ray [20] developed a new piezoelectric ber reinforced composite (PFRC). The constructional feature of this PFRC material is
that the monolithic piezoelectric bers are longitudinally reinforced in the conventional epoxy matrix material. They found that
when the ber volume fraction exceeds a critical value, the effective piezoelectric coefcient e31 of this PFRC material, which quanties the induced normal stress in the ber direction due to the
applied electric eld in the direction transverse to the ber direction, is signicantly large than the corresponding coefcient of
the piezoelectric material of the ber. This PFRC material may also
be used as actuators and sensors. When bonded with or embedded
in exible structures, these materials provide the structures with
self-monitoring and self-controlling capabilities. The nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of FGM plates with a distributed PFRC
actuator were performed by Ray and Sachade [21], Panda and
Ray [22], and Xia and Shen [23]. Note that if the transverse direction electric eld component EZ is applied, the buckling control
of FGM hybrid plates mainly depends on the piezoelectric coefcients e31 and e32. It is still not clear if the applied voltage has
the same effect on the postbuckling behavior of shear deformable
FGM plates with PFRC actuators.

The present paper extends the previous works [18,24] to the

case of shear deformable FGM plate with PFRC actuators. Since
for an FGM plate with all four edges simply supported, no bifurcation buckling could occur when the plate is subjected to in-plane
compressive edge loads or a uniform temperature rise. For this reason, we consider here geometrically mid-plane symmetric FGM
plates with fully covered or embedded PFRC actuators. In such a
case, the extension-bending coupling is zero-valued. On the other
hand, even for the mid-plane symmetric plate the extension-bending coupling is still existed when the plate is subjected to heat conduction [24], and the postbuckling path for geometrically perfect
plates is no longer of the bifurcation type, hence only uniform temperature eld is considered. The electric eld considered only has
non-zero-valued component EZ. The material properties of FGMs
are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to
a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions
of the constituents, and the material properties of both FGM and
PFRC layers are assumed to be temperature-dependent. Both compressive postbuckling under thermal environments and thermal
postbuckling due to a uniform temperature rise are considered.
The postbuckling analysis of FGM plates is based on a higher order
shear deformation plate theory with von Krmn-type of kinematic nonlinearity. The thermo-piezoelectric effects are also included. The initial geometric imperfection of the plate is taken
into account but, for simplicity, its form is assumed to be the same
as the initial buckling mode of the plate.
2. Theoretical development
We are now in a position to consider two types of hybrid laminated plate, referred to as (PFRC/FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S, which
consists of 4 plies and is mid-plane symmetric, as shown in
Fig. 1. The length, width and total thickness of the hybrid laminated plate are a, b and t, respectively. The thickness of the FGM

Fig. 1. Congurations of two types of hybrid FGM plates.

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

layer is tF, while the thickness of the PFRC layer is tp. We assume
that the PFRC layer is made of piezoelectric ber and matrix which
is assumed to be isotropic. The key issue is rst to determine the
effective material properties of PFRC. In terms of a micro-mechanical model, the effective Youngs modulus, shear modulus and Poissons ratio can be expressed as

E11 V f Ef11 V m Em

1a
f
2 m
f E =E22

2m Ef22 =Em 
V f Ef22 V m Em

m
m
Vf
1
Vm

 Vf Vm
E22 Ef22 Em
Vf Vm
1

ij 12; 13 and 23
Gij Gf Gm

2m

1b
1c

ij

m12 V f mf V m mm

1d

Ef11 ; Ef22 ; Gf12 ; Gf13 ; Gf23

where
and m are the Youngs moduli, shear
moduli and Poissons ratio, respectively, of the piezoelectric ber,
and Em, Gm and mm are corresponding properties for the matrix. Vf
and Vm are the ber and matrix volume fractions and are related
by Vf + Vm = 1. The thermal expansion coefcients in the longitudinal and transverse directions may be written by [25]

a11

V f Ef11 af11 V m Em am

2a

V f Ef11 V m Em

a22 1 mf V f af22 1 mm V m am  m12 a11

f
11 ;

f
22

2b

where a a and a are thermal expansion coefcients of the ber

and matrix, respectively, and the piezoelectric moduli e31 and e32
can be expressed by [20]

n
h
f
m
f
e31 V f ef31  V m V f =H C f13  C m
13 V m C 22 V f C 22 e33
i
h
f
m
f
f
V m C f23 V f C m
23 e31 C 12  C 12 V m C 33
io
f
m
f
f
3a
V f C m
33 e31  V m C 23 V f C 23 e33
n h
i
f
m
f
f
e32 ef31 V m =H C f22 V m C f23 V f C m
23 e33  V m C 33 V f C 33 e31
h
io
f
m
f
f
C f23 V m C f22 V f C m
3b
22 e33  V m C 23 V f C 23 e31
in which
f
m
f
m 2
H V m C f22 V f C m
22 V m C 33 V f C 33  V m C 23 V f C 23

ef31

ef33

3c
C fij

and
and
are the piezoelectric coefcients of ber, and
and
Cm
ij are the elastic constants of ber and matrix, respectively. The
relation between C fij (i, j = 16) and Ef11 ; Ef22 ; Gf12 ; Gf13 and Gf23 can be
found in Reddy [26] and other textbooks.
It is assumed that the material property of matrix C m
ij (i, j = 16)
is a function of temperature, so that all effective material properties of PFRC are functions of temperature.
The substrate FGM layer is made from a mixture of ceramics
and metals, the mixing ratio of which is varied continuously and
smoothly in the Z direction. This is achieved by using a simple rule
of mixture of composite materials. We assume that the composition is varied from the top to the bottom surface, i.e. the top surface
(Z = t1) of the FGM layer is ceramic-rich whereas the bottom surface (Z = t2) is metal-rich. In such a way, the effective material
properties PF, like Youngs modulus EF or thermal expansion coefcient aF, can be expressed as

PF Pt V t Pb V b

where Pt and Pb denote the temperature-dependent properties of

the ceramic and metal, respectively, and Vt and Vb are the ceramic
and metal volume fractions and are related by Vt + Vb = 1. The volume fraction Vb follows a simple power law

Vb

Z  t1
t2  t1

N
5

377

where the volume fraction index N(0 6 N 6 /) dictates the material

variation prole through the FGM layer thickness.
Since functionally graded structures are most commonly used
in high temperature environment where signicant changes in
mechanical properties of the constituent materials are to be expected [27], it is essential to take into consideration this temperature-dependency for the accurate prediction of the mechanical
responses. Thus, the effective Youngs modulus EF, and thermal
expansion coefcient aF are assumed to be functions of temperature, so that EF, and aF are both temperature and position dependent. The Poissons ratio mF depends weakly on temperature
change [27] and is assumed to be a constant. From Eqs. (4) and
(5), one has


N
Z  t1
EF Z; T Eb T  Et T
Et ;
t2  t1

N
Z  t1
aF Z; T ab T  at T
at T
t2  t1

where Et and at are the Youngs modulus and the thermal expansion
coefcient of the ceramic, and Eb and ab are corresponding properties for the metal. Note that Eqs. (5) and (6) are valid for the (PFRC/
FGM)S plate and denitions for the (FGM/PFRC)S plate can be made
analogously.
The plate is assumed to be geometrically imperfect, and is subjected to mechanical, thermal and electric loads. As usual, the coordinate system has its origin at one corner of the plate. Let U, V and
W be the plate displacements parallel to a right-hand set of axes (X,
Y, Z), where X is longitudinal and Z is perpendicular to the plate. Wx
and Wy are the mid-plane rotations of the normals about the Y and
X axes, respectively. Denoting the initial geometric imperfection by
W  (X, Y), let W (X, Y) be the additional deection and F (X, Y) be
the stress function for the stress resultants which are dened by
N x F;YY , N y F;XX and N xy F;XY , where a comma denotes partial differentiation with respect to the corresponding coordinates.
For hybrid laminated plates, layerwise approaches [2830] are
usually proposed for which their kinematic and electric potential
variations through the plate thickness is smooth enough within
each layer and the continuity conditions at the layer interface are
also ascertained. Layerwise models incorporate the local electromechanical responses of each layer of the laminate. On the other
hand, Reddy [31] presented a theoretical formulation of laminated
plates with piezoelectric layers as sensors or actuators using the
classical and shear deformable laminated plate theories. This kind
of model is usually referred as to equivalent single-layer piezoelectric plate theory which can accurately predict the global structural
responses (deection, buckling and vibration) of the laminates. In
the present study the formulations are based on Reddys higher order shear deformation plate theory [32]. This theory assumes that
the transverse shear strains present a parabolical distribution
across the plate thickness. The advantages of this theory over the
rst order shear deformation theory are that the number of independent unknowns (U; V; W; Wx and Wy ) is the same as in the rst
order shear deformation theory, and no shear correction factors are
required. From Reddys higher order shear deformation plate theory and including thermo-piezoelectric effects [31,32], the governing differential equations for an FGM hybrid laminated plate can be
derived in terms of a stress function F, two rotations Wx and Wy ,
and a transverse displacement W [33]. They are
~L11 W  ~L12 Wx  ~L13 Wy ~L14 F  ~L15 N p  ~L16 Mp ~LW W  ;F 7
~L21 F ~L22 Wx ~L23 Wy  ~L24 W  ~L25 N p  1 ~LW 2W  ;W
8
2
~L31 W ~L32 Wx  ~L33 Wy ~L34 F  ~L35 N p  ~L36 Sp 0
9
~L41 W  ~L42 Wx ~L43 Wy ~L44 F  ~L45 N p  ~L46 Sp 0
10

378

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

Note that the geometric nonlinearity in the von Krmn sense is

given in terms of ~L () in Eqs. (7) and (8), and the other linear operators ~Lij () are dened as in Shen [18].
In the above equations, the equivalent thermo-piezoelectric
loads are dened by

NP
NT
NE
6 MP 7 6 MT 7 6 ME 7
6
7 6
7 6
7
6 P 76 T 76 E 7
4P 5 4P 5 4P 5
Sp

ST

11

SE

where N T ; MT ; ST ; P T and NE , ME ; SE ; PE are the forces, moments and

higher order moments caused by the elevated temperature and
electric eld, respectively.
Plate is considered to be at an isothermal state. Therefore, the
temperature eld is assumed to be uniformly distributed over
the plate surface and through the plate thickness.
For the plate type piezoelectric material, only the transverse
direction electric eld component EZ is dominant, and EZ is dened
as EZ = U,Z, where U is the potential eld. If the voltage applied to
the actuator is in the thickness only, then [31]

EZ

Vk
tp

12

where Vk is the applied voltage across the kth ply.

The forces and moments caused by elevated temperature or
electric eld are dened by

NTx

M Tx

PTx

Ax
Z
6 T
7 X tk 6
7
3
6 Ny M Ty PTy 7
A
4
y 5 1; Z; Z DTdZ
4
5
t k1
k1
Axy k
NTxy M Txy PTxy
2
3 2
3
2
3
T
Sx
M Tx
PTx
6 T 7 6 T 7
6
7
6 Sy 7 6 M y 7  4 6 PTy 7
4
5 4
5 3t2 4
5
M Txy
PTxy
STxy

13a

13b

13c

Ax

Q 11

6
7
6
4 Ay 5 4 Q 12
Axy
Q 16
2
3
2
Bx
Q 11
6
7
6
4 By 5 4 Q 12
Bxy
Q 16

Q 12

13d

Q 22
Q 26
Q 12
Q 22
Q 26

32

3
1 0 

76
7 a11
Q 26 54 0 1 5
a22
0 0
Q 66
32
3
1 0 
Q 16

76
7 d31
0
1
5
4
5
Q 26
d32
0 0
Q 66
Q 16

14a

14b

where a11 and a22 are the thermal expansion coefcients measured
in the longitudinal and transverse directions for kth ply, in particular for an PFRC layer they are given in detail in Eq. (2), and for an
FGM layer, a11 = a22 = aF is given in detail in Eq. (6). d31 and d32
are the piezoelectric strain constants of kth ply, and can be obtained
by [31]

0 0 e31

0 0 d31

32

Q 11

6
76
6
7
4 0 0 e32 5 4 0 0 d32 5 4 Q 12
0 0 0 k
0 0 0 k 0

Q 12
Q 22
0

7
0 5
Q 66 k

Q 16 Q 26 0;

Q 66

Q 12

mF EF Z; T
;
1  m2F

EF Z; T
21 mF

16

where EF is also given in detail in Eq. (6), and varies in the thickness
direction.
Two cases of compressive postbuckling under thermal environments and of thermal postbuckling due to a uniform temperature
rise are considered. All four edges of the plate are assumed to be
simply supported. It has been reported [18] that the applied voltage has almost no effect on the postbuckling loaddeection
curves of the plate with movable in-plane boundary condition.
Therefore, only immovable in-plane boundary condition (i.e.
two unloaded edges being immovable in the Y direction) is considered for compressive buckling case, and for thermal buckling case
all four edges are assumed to be simply supported with no in-plane
displacements.
For both cases the associated boundary conditions can be expressed by X = 0, a:

W Wy 0

17a

Mx Px 0
Z b
Nx dY P 0 for compressive buckling

17b
17c

W Wx 0

17d

15

17e

My Py 0

17f

V 0

17g

where P is a compressive edge load in the X direction, Mx and My are

the bending moments and Px and Py are the higher order moments
as dened in [32].
The average end-shortening relationships are

Dx
1

ab
a

in which

EF Z; T
;
1  m2F

Y 0; b :

2
3
NEx M Ex PEx
B
X Z tk 6 x 7
6 E
7
3 Vk
6 Ny M Ey PEy 7
4 By 5 1; Z; Z dZ
4
5
tp
t k1
k1
Bxy k
NExy M Exy PExy
2
3 2
3
2
3
SEx
MEx
PEx
6 E7 6 E7
6
7
6 Sy 7 6 My 7  4 6 PEy 7
4
5 4
5 3t2 4
5
M Exy
PExy
SExy

Q 11 Q 22

U 0 for thermal buckling

where DT is temperature rise from some reference temperature at

which there are no thermal strains and

in which e31 and e32 are given in detail in Eq. (3), and Q ij are the
transformed elastic constants with details being given in [32]. Note
that for an FGM layer, Q ij Q ij in which

@U
dXdY
0
0 @X


Z b Z a ("
1
@2F
@2F
4
@ Wx
A11 2 A12 2 B11  2 E11

ab 0 0
@X
3t
@Y
@X
!#


2
2
4
@ Wy
4
@ W
@ W
B12  2 E12
E12
 2 E11
@Y
3t
3t
@X 2
@Y 2
!2
)
1 @W
@W @W 


18a
 A11 NPx A12 NPy dXdY
2 @X
@X @X
Z aZ b
Dy
1
@V
dYdX

ab 0 0 @Y
b


Z a Z b ("
1
@2F
@2F
4
@ Wx
A22 2 A12 2 B21  2 E21

ab 0 0
@X
3t
@X
@Y
!#


2
2
4
@ Wy
4
@ W
@ W
B22  2 E22
E21
E22

@Y 3t 2
3t
@X 2
@Y 2
!2
)

1 @W
@W @W    P
18b


 A12 Nx A22 NPy dYdX
2 @Y
@Y @Y
where Dx and Dy are the plate end-shortening displacements in the
X and Y directions, and for compressive buckling case Dy must be
zero-valued, and for thermal buckling case both Dx and Dy are
zero-valued.

379

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

Table 1
Temperature-dependent coefcients for ceramics and metals, from Reddy and Chin [27].
Materials
Silicon nitride

EF

aF
Stainless steel

EF

aF

P0

P1

P1

P2

P3

348.43e+9
5.8723e6
201.04e+9
12.330e6

0
0
0
0

3.070e4
9.095e4
3.079e4
8.086e4

2.160e7
0
6.534e7
0

8.946e11
0
0
0

In the above equations, the reduced stiffness matrices

Aij ; Bij ; Dij ; Eij ; F ij  and Hij  are functions of T and Z, determined
through relationship [11]

altered. Note that in the present study the material properties of

both FGM and PFRC layers are assumed to be functions of temperature, but the temperature must not reach the Curie temperature.

A A1 ;

3. Numerical results and discussions

B A1 B;

1

E A E;

D D  BA1 B;
1

F F  EA B;

H H  EA1 E

19

where Aij, Bij, etc., are the plate stiffnesses, dened by

Aij ;Bij ;Dij ;Eij ;F ij ;Hij

XZ
k1

Aij ;Dij ;F ij

XZ
k1

tk

t k1

Q ij k 1;Z;Z 2 ;Z 3 ;Z 4 ;Z 6 dZ i;j 1;2;6

20a

tk

t k1

Q ij k 1;Z 2 ;Z 4 dZ i;j 4;5

20b

It is evident that the above equations involve the extensionbending coupling, as predicted by Bij and Eij. Since the FGM hybrid
plate is assumed to be geometrically mid-plane symmetric and the
applied loads are assumed to be uniform, the extension-bending
coupling is now zero-valued, i.e. Bij = Eij = 0. As a result,
~
L15 ~L22 ~L23 ~
L24 ~L25 ~L34 ~
L35 ~
L44 ~L45 0.
L14 ~
Eqs. (7)(10) can be solved by means of a two step perturbation
technique, for which the small perturbation parameter has no physical meaning at the rst step, and is then replaced by a dimensionless deection at the second step. The solution methodology may
be found in [33]. The solutions are obtained in the same forms as
previously reported in [18,24], and then the buckling loads (temperature) and postbuckling equilibrium paths can be solved numerically. The effect of temperature-dependency, transverse shear
deformation and the plate geometric parameter on the postbuckling
behavior of FGM hybrid plates has been performed in the previous
studies [18,24], and does not repeat herein. In the present study
we focus on the effect of applied voltage on the postbuckling behavior of FGM plates with PFRC actuators under different sets of thermal
environmental and loading conditions. The major difference herein
is that the PFRC stiffness are determined based on a micro-mechanical model and the stiffness matrixes of FGM hybrid plates are
Table 2
2
Comparisons of buckling loads Nx cr b =Et t3 for a square FGM plate subjected to
uniaxial compression under two special cases of isotropy (b/t = 40).
Plate

Wu et al. [7]

Present

Alumina
Aluminum

3.6498
0.67

3.6025
0.6636

Table 3
Comparisons of buckling temperatures DTcr for a square FGM plate subjected to a
uniform temperature rise under one special case of isotropy (alumina plate).
b/t

Javaheri and Eslami [36]

Present

10
20
40
60
80
100

1617.5
421.52
106.49
47.424
26.693
17.088

1618.7
421.54
106.49
47.423
26.694
17.089

Numerical results are presented in this section for perfect and

imperfect, geometrically mid-plane symmetric FGM plates with
fully covered or embedded PFRC actuators. PZT-5A are selected
for the piezoelectric ber and the material properties of which
are [34]: C f11 C f22 121 GPa, C f33 111 GPa, C f12 75:4 GPa,
C f13 C f23 75:2 GPa, C f44 C f55 21:1 GPa, C f66 22:6 GPa, ef31
ef32 5:4c=m2 , ef33 15:8c=m2 , and af11 af22 1:5  106 =K.
The material properties of matrix are assumed to be
m
m
Cm
11 C 22 C 33 5:4015  0:000385T GPa, in which T = T0 + DT
m
m
m
and T0 = 300 K (room temperature), C m
12 C 13 C 23 0:515C 11 ,
m
m
m
m
6
/K. The monolithic
Cm
44 C 55 C 66 0:242C 11 and a = 45.0  10
piezoelectric layer is also considered as a comparator, the corresponding material properties are in a xed value of ber volume
fraction Vf = 1 in Eqs. (1)(3), i.e. E11 = E22 = 61.5 GPa, G12 =
22.6 GPa, G13 = G23 = 21.1 GPa, a11 = a22 = 1.5  106/K, m12 = 0.35,
and d31 = d32 = 2.39  1010 m/V. Silicon nitride and stainless
steel are selected for the substrate FGM layers, referred to as
Si3N4/SUS304. The material properties PF, such as Youngs modulus
EF, and thermal expansion coefcient aF, can be expressed as a nonlinear function of temperature as (see Touloukian [35])

PF P 0 P1 T 1 1 P1 T P2 T 2 P3 T 3

21

in which P0, P1, P1, P2 and P3 are the coefcients of temperature T

(in K) and are unique to the constituent materials. Typical values for
the Youngs modulus EF (in Pa), and the thermal expansion coefcient aF (in /K) of these materials are listed in Table 1 (from Reddy
and Chin [27]). Poissons ratio mF is assumed to be a constant, and
mF = 0.28.
As argued before, for an FGM plate with all four edges simply
supported, no bifurcation buckling could occur when the plate is
subjected to in-plane compressive edge loads or a uniform temperature rise, the comparison studies herein are only for two special
cases of N = 0 and/or N = /. We rst examine the buckling loads
2
N x cr b =Et t 3 for a square FGM plate (b/t = 40) subjected to uniaxial
compression under two special cases of isotropy, i.e. pure aluminum and pure alumina plates. The material properties adopted,
as given in [7], are: Et = 380 GPa, at = 7.4  106/C, mt = 0.3 for alumina; and Eb = 70 GPa, ab = 23  106/C, mb = 0.3 for aluminum.
The results are listed in Table 2 and compared with those of Wu
et al. [7] based on the rst order shear deformation plate theory.
As a second example, the buckling temperatures DTcr for a square
FGM plate with different values of plate width-to-thickness ratio b/
t subjected to a uniform temperature rise under one special case of
isotropy, i.e. pure alumina plate, are compared in Table 3 with
those of Javaheri and Eslami [36] based on a higher order shear
deformation plate theory. In addition, the thermal postbuckling
load-deection curves of an alumina/aluminum thin plate (b/
t = 100) subjected to a uniform temperature rise under two special
cases of isotropy, i.e. pure aluminum and pure alumina plates, are
compared in Fig. 2 with the nite element method results of

380

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

50

30

1: Pure alumina
2: Pure aluminum
Present
Prakash et al. [9]

T ( C)

40

Alumina/Aluminum Plate
= 1.0, b/t = 100
(m, n)=(1, 1)

20
2
10

0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

W/t
Fig. 2. Comparisons of thermal postbuckling loaddeection curves of an alumina/
aluminum plate.

Prakash et al. [9]. These comparisons show that the results from
present method are in good agreement with existing results for
the limiting case. Note that in these three examples the material
properties are assumed to be independent of temperature.
A parametric study has been carried out and typical results are
shown in Tables 46, and Figs. 38. For these examples, the plate
width-to-thickness ratio b/t = 40, and the thickness of the FGM
layer tF = 1.0 mm whereas the thickness of PFRC layers tp = 0.1 mm,
so that the total thickness of the plate t = 2.2 mm. It should be
appreciated that in all gures W  =t denotes the dimensionless
maximum initial geometric imperfection of the plate.
Tables 4 and 5 present, respectively, the buckling loads Pcr (kN)
for perfect, (PFRC/FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S hybrid laminated plates

with different values of the volume fraction index N (as dened in

Eq. (5) and taken to be 0.0, 0.2, 2.0 and 5.0) subjected to uniaxial
compression under two thermal environmental conditions
(DT = 0 and 100 K). The buckling mode is found to be
(m, n) = (1, 1), which determine the number of half-waves in the
X and Y directions. As mentioned before, the maximum value of
the effective piezoelectric coefcient e31 of the PFRC is not at
Vf = 1.0. For this reason, the ber volume fraction Vf is taken to
be 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.95. The monolithic piezoelectric layer, i.e.
Vf = 1.0, as previously used in [15,18,19], is included for direct comparison. The control voltages with the same sign are also applied to
the upper, lower or middle PFRC layers, and are referred to as VU, VL
and VM. Three electric loading cases are considered. Here
VU = VL = 0 V (or VM = 0 V) implies that the buckling occurs under
a grounding condition. The differences in brackets show the effect
of applied voltages on the buckling loads of the plate with PFRC
layers and monolithic piezoelectric layers, respectively. It can be
found that the buckling load of (PFRC/FGM)S plate is lower than
that of (FGM/PFRC)S one. This is due to the fact that the (PFRC/
FGM)S plate has lower stiffness than the (FGM/PFRC)S plate. It
can also be found that the buckling load of (PFRC/FGM)S plate with
PFRC actuators is lower than that of the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators. In contrast, the result is inversed for the (FGM/
PFRC)S plate at DT = 0 K, when the PFRC actuators were used. It can
be seen that the effect of applied voltage on the buckling load of a
plate with PFRC actuators is less than that of the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators, except for the (PFRC/FGM)S plate under DT = 100 K and Vf = 0.6. In the present example, the negative
applied voltage increases, whereas positive applied voltage decreases the buckling load, when the ber volume fraction Vf = 0.4,
0.6 and 0.8. In contrast, for the cases of Vf = 0.95 and 1.0, the result
is inversed. It can be seen that the buckling load has a maximum
value at DT = 0 K, but has a minimum value at DT = 100 K for the

Table 4
Comparisons of buckling loads Pcr (kN) for perfect (PFRC/FGM)S square plates (b/t = 40) under thermal environments and three sets of electric loading conditions (T0 = 300 K).

Monolithic piezoelectric layer

PFRC layer

DT (K)

Vf

VU = VL (V)

N=0

N = 0.2

N = 2.0

N = 5.0

1.0

100

1.0

200
0
+200
200
0
200

57.37(0.8%)a
57.82
58.26(+0.8%)
10.73(0.4%)
11.18
11.62(+0.4%)

65.74(0.7%)
66.18
66.63(+0.7%)
19.17(2.2%)
19.62
20.06(+2.2%)

83.37(0.5%)
83.82
84.27(+0.5%)
41.62(1.0%)
42.06
42.51(+1.0%)

85.77(0.5%)
86.22
86.66(+0.5%)
46.52(0.9%)
46.96
47.41(+0.9%)

0.4

200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200

53.80(+0.5%)
53.52
53.25(0.5%)
54.35(+0.7%)
53.96
53.56(0.7%)
54.87(+0.4%)
54.62
54.36(0.5%)
55.85(0.3%)
56.02
56.19(+0.3%)
6.61(+4.4%)
6.35
6.05(4.4%)
7.05(+5.9%)
6.66
6.26(6.0%)
7.54(+3.6%)
7.28
7.02(3.6%)
8.74(2.0%)
8.91
9.08(+2.0%)

62.18(+0.4%)
61.9
61.62(0.4%)
62.73(+0.6%)
62.34
61.94(0.6%)
63.25(+0.4%)
63.00
62.74(0.4%)
64.22(0.3%)
64.4
64.57(+0.3%)
15.10(+1.9%)
14.82
14.54(1.9%)
15.56(+2.6%)
15.16
14.77(2.6%)
16.05(+1.6%)
15.79
15.53(1.6%)
17.23(1.0%)
17.4
17.57(+1.0%)

79.82(+0.3%)
79.55
79.27(0.3%)
80.38(+0.5%)
79.98
79.59(0.5%)
80.90(+0.3%)
80.65
80.39(0.3%)
81.87(0.2%)
82.04
82.21(+0.2%)
37.68(+0.7%)
37.4
37.12(0.7%)
38.16(+1.0%)
37.76
37.37(1.0%)
38.66(+0.7%)
38.4
38.14(0.7%)
39.78(0.4%)
39.96
40.13(+0.4%)

82.21(+0.3%)
81.93
81.67(0.3%)
82.76(+0.5%)
82.37
81.97(0.5%)
83.29(+0.3%)
83.03
82.77(0.3%)
84.25(0.2%)
84.43
84.60(+0.2%)
42.60(+0.7%)
42.32
42.04(0.7%)
43.09(+0.9%)
42.69
42.30(0.9%)
43.60(+0.6%)
43.34
43.08(0.6%)
44.71(0.4%)
44.88
45.05(+0.4%)

0.6

0.8

0.95

100

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.95

Difference = 100%[Pcr(200 V)Pcr(0 V)]/Pcr(0 V).

381

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

(FGM/PFRC)S plate with Vf = 0.8. It can also be seen that the buckling loads are increased with increase in volume fraction index N,
but are decreased with increase in temperature. The percentage

decrease is about 75.7% for the (PFRC/FGM)S plate and about

58.9% for the (FGM/PFRC)S one from temperature changes from
DT = 0 K to DT = 100 K under the same volume fraction Vf = 0.6

Table 5
Comparisons of buckling loads Pcr (kN) for perfect (FGM/PFRC)S square plates (b/t = 40) under thermal environments and three sets of electric loading conditions (T0 = 300 K).

Monolithic piezoelectric layer

PFRC layer

DT (K)

Vf

VM (V)

N=0

N = 0.2

N = 2.0

N = 5.0

1.0

100

1.0

200
0
+200
200
0
200

69.25(0.6%)a
69.7
70.14(+0.6%)
22.36(1.9%)
22.81
23.25(+1.9%)

79.84(0.5%)
80.29
80.73(+0.5%)
32.96(1.3%)
33.41
33.85(+1.3%)

102.99(0.4%)
103.44
103.89(+0.4%)
60.75(0.7%)
61.19
61.64(+0.7%)

106.57(0.4%)
107.02
107.46(+0.4%)
66.79(0.6%)
67.23
67.68(+0.6%)

0.4

200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200

70.19(+0.4%)
69.91
69.64(0.4%)
70.36(+0.5%)
69.97
69.58(0.5%)
70.25(+0.3%)
70.00
69.75(0.3%)
69.73(0.3%)
69.9
70.08(+0.3%)
22.75(+1.2%)
22.48
22.20(1.2%)
22.82(+1.7%)
22.43
22.03(1.8%)
22.68(+1.1%)
22.42
22.16(1.1%)
22.38(0.8%)
22.55
22.73(+0.8%)

80.79(+0.3%)
80.52
80.24(0.3%)
80.97(+0.5%)
80.58
80.19(0.5%)
80.86(+0.3%)
80.61
80.35(0.3%)
80.33(0.2%)
80.5
80.68(+0.2%)
33.40(+0.8%)
33.12
32.84(0.8%)
33.49(+1.2%)
33.09
32.69(1.2%)
33.34(+0.8%)
33.08
32.83(0.7%)
33.02(0.5%)
33.2
33.37(+0.5%)

103.95(+0.3%)
103.68
103.40(0.3%)
104.13(+0.4%)
103.74
103.35(0.4%)
104.03(+0.2%)
103.77
103.52(0.2%)
103.49(0.2%)
103.67
103.84(+0.2%)
61.32(+0.4%)
61.04
60.76(0.4%)
61.43(+0.6%)
61.03
60.64(0.6%)
61.30(+0.4%)
61.04
60.78(0.4%)
60.93(0.3%)
61.1
61.27(+0.3%)

107.53(+0.3%)
107.25
106.97(0.3%)
107.70(+0.4%)
107.31
106.92(0.4%)
107.60(+0.2%)
107.34
107.08(0.2%)
107.06(0.2%)
107.24
107.41(+0.1%)
67.39(+0.4%)
67.11
66.83(0.4%)
67.51(+0.6%)
67.11
66.71(0.6%)
67.38(+0.4%)
67.12
66.86(0.4%)
66.99(0.3%)
67.17
67.34(+0.3%)

0.6

0.8

0.95

100

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.95

Difference = 100%[Pcr(200 V)Pcr(0 V)]/Pcr(0 V).

Table 6
Comparisons of buckling temperatures DTcr (K) for perfect hybrid FGM square plates (b/t = 40) under uniform temperature rise and three sets of electric loading conditions
(T0 = 300 K).
Vf

VU(VM) (V)

N=0

N = 0.2

N = 2.0

(PFRC/FGM)S
Monolithic piezoelectric layer

1.0

200
0
+200

45.15(2.1%)a
46.12
47.08(+2.1%)

51.91(1.8%)
52.87
53.84(+1.8%)

73.64(1.4%)
74.71
75.78(+1.4%)

80.61(1.4%)
81.74
82.88(+1.4%)

PFRC layer

0.4

200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200

41.28(3.0%)
42.55
43.82(+3.0%)
40.97(4.4%)
42.86
44.74(+4.4%)
41.48(4.3%)
43.37
45.25(+4.3%)

48.02(2.6%)
49.3
50.57(+2.6%)
47.72(3.8%)
49.61
51.49(+3.8%)
48.23(3.8%)
50.12
52.00(+3.7%)

69.30(2.0%)
70.71
72.12(+2.0%)
68.96(2.9%)
71.05
73.15(+2.9%)
69.53(2.9%)
71.63
73.72(+2.9%)

75.98(1.9%)
77.48
78.98(+1.9%)
75.63(2.8%)
77.85
80.07(+2.8%)
76.24(2.8%)
78.46
80.68(+2.8%)

0.6

0.8

N = 5.0

(FGM/PFRC)S
Monolithic piezoelectric layer

1.0

200
0
+200

54.29(1.7%)
55.25
56.20(+1.7%)

62.71(1.5%)
63.67
64.62(+1.5%)

90.08(1.1%)
91.14
92.19(+1.1%)

99.03(1.1%)
100.14
101.26(+1.1%)

PFRC layer

0.4

200
0
+200
200
0
+200
200
0
+200

53.88(2.3%)
55.14
56.39(+2.3%)
53.28(3.4%)
55.15
57.01(+3.4%)
53.30(3.4%)
55.17
57.03(+3.4%)

62.29(2.0%)
63.54
64.79(+2.0%)
61.69(2.9%)
63.55
65.41(+2.9%)
61.71(2.9%)
63.57
65.43(+2.9%)

89.56(1.5%)
90.95
92.33(+1.5%)
88.91(2.3%)
90.97
93.02(+2.2%)
88.94(2.3%)
91.00
93.05(+2.2%)

98.46(1.5%)
99.93
101.39(+1.5%)
97.78(2.1%)
99.95
102.12(+2.1%)
97.81(2.2%)
99.98
102.16(+2.2%)

0.6

0.8

Difference = 100%[DTcr (200 V)DTcr(0 V)]/DTcr (0 V).

382

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

(a) 100

60

I: Piezoelectric layer
II: PFRC layer (Vf =0.6)

100
I

3,2,1

80

P (kN)

P (kN)

80

(a) 120
(PFRC/FGM)S
= 1.0, b/t = 40
(m, n)=(1, 1), N=0.2
T= 50 K

II

40

(PFRC/FGM)S
PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)
= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T = 50 K

1,2,3

W /t = 0.0

I: N = 0.2
II: N = 2.0
III: N = 5.0

20

W /t = 0.05
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

0.5

W /t = 0.05

1.0

1.5

W (mm)

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

2.0

(b) 120
(PFRC/FGM)S
= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T= 50 K, N=0.2
I: Piezoelectric layer
II: PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)

100

II

80

60
40

0.1

1
*

20

W /t = 0.05
0.0

II

I: N = 0.2
II: N = 2.0
III: N = 5.0

W /t = 0.0

20

III

(PFRC/FGM)S
PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)
= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T = 50 K

0
-0.1

W /t = 0.0

W (mm)

P (kN)

P (kN)

0
0.0

2.0

(b) 100

40

60

20

60

II

40

1,2,3

80

III

0.2

0
-0.1

W /t = 0.0

W /t = 0.05
0.0

0.1

x (mm)

x (mm)

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

0.2

Fig. 3. Comparisons of postbuckling behavior of (PFRC/FGM)S square plates with

PFRC and monolithic piezoelectric actuators: (a) loaddeection; (b) load
shortening.

Fig. 4. Effects of volume fraction index N on the postbuckling behavior of (PFRC/

FGM)S plates with PFRC actuators: (a) loaddeection; (b) loadshortening.

and N = 0.2. Then Table 6 gives the buckling temperatures DTcr (K)
for the same two FGM hybrid plates subjected to a uniform temperature rise. Note that, for the thermal buckling problem, since
the material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent,
an iterative numerical procedure is necessary, as previously reported in [24]. Now the effect of applied voltage on the buckling
temperature of a plate with PFRC actuators is larger than that with
monolithic piezoelectric actuators. Unlike in the compressive
buckling case, the negative applied voltage decreases, whereas positive applied voltage increases, the buckling temperature for both
(PFRC/FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S plates under various values of ber
volume fraction Vf. This is because, in the present example, PZT-5A
material presents negative values for ef31 and ef32 , so that an extension occurs when the negative voltage is applied and an additional
edge compressive stress is caused by edges restrained. It is also
found that the increase in buckling temperature is about 1.7% for
the (PFRC/FGM)S plate, and about 0.05% for the (FGM/PFRC)S one,
from Vf = 0.4 to Vf = 0.8 under the same volume fraction index
N = 0.2.

Fig. 3 compares the compressive postbuckling loaddeection

and load-shortening curves for (PFRC/FGM)S square plates
(N = 0.2) with two different kinds of piezoelectric actuators under
environmental condition DT = 50 K and three electric loading cases
VU = VL = 200, 0, +200 V. It can be found that the buckling load as
well as postbuckling strength of a plate with PFRC actuators
(Vf = 0.6) is lower than that of the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators. It can be seen that negative applied voltages increase
the buckling load and decrease the postbuckled deection at the
same temperature rise, whereas the positive applied voltages decrease the buckling load and induce more large postbuckled deections, when the PFRC actuators are used. Even though the applied
voltage only has a small effect on the postbuckling behavior of the
plate. In contrast, the result is inversed for the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators.
Fig. 4 shows the effect of the volume fraction index N (=0.2, 2.0
and 5.0) on the postbuckling behavior of (PFRC/FGM)S square plate
with PFRC actuators (Vf = 0.6) subjected to uniaxial compression
and three sets of electric loading, and under DT = 50 K. It can be

383

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

100

(a) 100
80

PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)

= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T= 50 K, N=0.2

II
80

T (K)

60
1,2,3

60

40

3,2,1
II
1,2,3

40

0
0.0

0.5

20

I: (PFRC/FGM)S
II: (FGM/PFRC)S

20

W /t = 0.0

W /t = 0.0

W /t = 0.05

W /t = 0.05

1.0

1.5

0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.8

1.0

W (mm)
1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

Fig. 6. Comparisons of thermal postbuckling loaddeection curves of (PFRC/FGM)S

square plates with PFRC and monolithic piezoelectric actuators.

100

80

60

II

PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)

= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T= 50 K, N=0.2

150

I: (PFRC/FGM)S
II: (FGM/PFRC)S
100

40

1
*

W /t = 0.0

20

0
-0.1

0.0

0.1

III
II
I

50

W /t = 0.05

(PFRC/FGM)S
PFRC layer (Vf =0.6)
= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T0 = 300 K
1 2 3

T (K)

P (kN)

0.6

2.0

W (mm)

(b)

I: Piezoelectric layer
II: PFRC layer (Vf =0.6)
I

P (kN)

(PFRC/FGM)S
= 1.0, b/t = 40
(m, n)=(1, 1), N=0.2

I: N = 0.2
II: N = 2.0
III: N = 5.0

0.2

x (mm)

0
0.0

0.5

1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

1.0

W /t = 0.0
*

W /t = 0.05
1.5

2.0

W (mm)
1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V

Fig. 5. Comparisons of postbuckling behavior of (PFRC/FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S

plates with PFRC actuators: (a) loaddeection; (b) loadshortening.

Fig. 7. Effects of volume fraction index N on the thermal postbuckling load

deection curves of (PFRC/FGM)S plates with PFRC actuators.

seen that the increase of the volume fraction index N yields an increase of the buckling load and postbuckling strength.
Fig. 5 compares the compressive postbuckling loaddeection
and loadshortening curves for (PFRC/FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S
plates (N = 0.2) with PFRC actuators (Vf = 0.6) under environmental
condition DT = 50 K and three electric loading cases. It can be
found that the buckling load as well as postbuckling strength of
a (PFRC/FGM)S plate is much lower than that of the (FGM/PFRC)S
plate under the same environmental and loading conditions.
Figs. 68 are thermal postbuckling results for the (PFRC/
FGM)S and (FGM/PFRC)S plates analogous to the compressive
postbuckling results of Figs. 35, which are for the postbuckling
loaddeection curves only. Similar to the compressive buckling
case, the buckling temperature as well as postbuckling strength
of the plate with PFRC actuators (Vf = 0.6) is lower than that of
the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators. Unlike in the
compressive buckling case, the effect of applied voltage is more
pronounced for the plate with PFRC actuators, compared to the
results of the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators.

Otherwise, they lead to broadly the same conclusions as do

Figs. 35.
4. Concluding remarks
A fully nonlinear compressive postbuckling and thermal postbuckling analyses for FGM hybrid plates with PFRC actuators have
been presented. Numerical calculations have been made for perfect
and imperfect, geometrically mid-plane symmetric FGM plates
with fully covered or embedded PFRC actuators subjected to uniaxial compression or uniform temperature rise combined with electric loads. The new nding is that in the present example the
buckling load of (FGM/PFRC)S plate with PFRC actuators at
DT = 0 K is higher than that of the plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators, and the buckling load has a maximum value at
DT = 0 K, but has a minimum value at DT = 100 K for the

384

H.-S. Shen / Composite Structures 91 (2009) 375384

120
100

PFRC layer (Vf=0.6)

= 1.0, b/t = 40, (m, n)=(1, 1)
T0= 300 K, N=0.2

T (K)

80

I: (PFRC/FGM)S
II: (FGM/PFRC)S
II

1 2

3
I

60
40
*

W /t = 0.0

20

W /t = 0.05
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

W (mm)
1: VU =VL = -200 V
2: VU =VL = 0 V
3: VU =VL = +200 V
Fig. 8. Comparisons of thermal postbuckling loaddeection curves of (PFRC/FGM)S
and (FGM/PFRC)S plates with PFRC actuators.

(FGM/PFRC)S plate with Vf = 0.8. Another new nding is that in the

compressive buckling case the negative applied voltages increase
the buckling load and decrease the postbuckled deection,
whereas the positive applied voltages decrease the buckling load
and induce more large postbuckled deections, when the plate
with PFRC actuators and Vf = 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8. In contrast, the result
is inversed for the same plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators. The results reveal that, in the compressive buckling case, the
applied voltage usually has a small effect on the postbuckling load
deection curves of the plate with PFRC actuators, whereas in the
thermal buckling case, the effect of applied voltage is more pronounced for the plate with PFRC actuators, compared to the results
of the same plate with monolithic piezoelectric actuators.
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