Electric potential approximations for an eight node plate finite element

Abstract The aim of this work is to develop a computational tool for multilayered piezoelectric plates: a low cost tool, simple to use and very efficient for both convergence velocity and accuracy, without any classical numerical pathologies. In the field of finite elements, two approaches were previously used for the mechanical part, taking into account the transverse shear stress effects and using only five unknown generalized displacements: C 0 finite element approximation based on first-order shear deformation theories (FSDT) [Polit O, Touratier M, Lory P. A new eight-node quadrilateral shear-bending plate finite element. Int J Numer Meth Eng 1994;37:387–411] and C 1 finite element approximations using a high order shear deformation theory (HSDT) [Polit O, Touratier M. High order triangular sandwich plate finite element for linear and nonlinear analyses. Comput Meth Appl Mech Eng 2000;185:305–24]. In this article, we present the piezoelectric extension of the FSDT eight node plate finite element. The electric potential is approximated using the layerwise approach and an evaluation is proposed in order to assess the best compromise between minimum number of degrees of freedom and maximum efficiency. On one side, two kinds of finite element approximations for the electric potential with respect to the thickness coordinate are presented: a linear variation and a quadratic variation in each layer. On the other side, the in-plane variation can be quadratic or constant on the elementary domain at each interface layer. The use of a constant value reduces the number of unknown electric potentials. Furthermore, at the post-processing level, the transverse shear stresses are deduced using the equilibrium equations. Numerous tests are presented in order to evaluate the capability of these electric potential approximations to give accurate results with respect to piezoelasticity or finite element reference solutions. Finally, an adaptative composite plate is evaluated using the best compromise finite element.