Low-weight: high-stiffness glass fiber reinforced polymer beams with embedded piezoelectric fibers

This work presents a theoretical study of the effects on stiffness and deflection of embedding piezoelectric fibers within glass fiber reinforced polymer beams. Through this study, enhancements to the beam stiffness and flexural capabilities are analyzed as a result of the piezoelectric effect of the embedded piezoelectric fibers. Fiber orientation of glass fiber reinforced polymer laminated beams is optimized based on stiffness requirements following classical lamination theory. The piezoelectric effect on the glass fiber reinforced polymer beam is analyzed for simply-supported mechanical boundary conditions. The symmetric unidirectional general stacking sequence laminates are shown to have optimal stiffness and deflection behavior. The addition of piezoelectric fibers with d333 piezoelectric actuation mode further increases stiffness and reduces deflection. This enables tuning of the mechanical properties of the laminate beam. Introducing piezoelectric fibers to the reinforcing phase further optimizes the deflection range under bending while additionally minimizing the weight of the structure. The strengthening effect of the piezoelectric fibers can reduce the required number of laminate layers while maintaining optimal behavior.

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