Electromechanical response of 1–3 piezoelectric composites: An analytical model

Abstract An analytical model that captures the complete electromechanical response of a 1–3 piezoelectric composite system where both the matrix and fiber phases are, in general, elastically anisotropic and piezoelectrically active is developed. Upon identifying 36 classes of 1–3 composites based on the nature of the isotropy and the piezoelectric properties of the constituents, a detailed methodology for determining all the 45 independent material constants of a general 1–3 composite is presented. By comparing the predictions of the analytical model with that of a finite element model for a range of composite materials, it is demonstrated that the composite material properties in the longitudinal direction (i.e., C33, κ33 and e33) are well predicted by the analytical model. However, as a consequence of the approximation introduced in the model formulation (where the fiber composite is modeled as a layered composite) the analytical model could significantly underpredict the composite material properties in the transverse direction (especially the dielectric properties, κ11 and κ22) for some (“matrix-dominant”) composite material systems.