Meshfree point interpolation methods for analysis of piezoelectric structures

This paper summarizes the studies on meshfree point interpolation method (PIM) for static and dynamic analysis of piezoelectric structures. In the PIM methods, the problem domain is represented by a set of properly scattered nodes. The displacements and the electric potential of a point are interpolated by the values of nodes in its local support domain using shape functions derived from point interpolation scheme. Galerkin formulation is used to establish a set of system equations for arbitrary-shaped piezoelectric structures. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and convergence of the present method and their results compare well with the conventional FEM results from ABAQUS as well as the experimental ones.