Micromechanics of a Smart Composite Actuator Embedded With Hollow Piezoelectric Fibers

This paper presents a development of mathematical models for predicting the effective elastic and piezoelectric properties of a Smart Composite Actuator (SCA) reinforced with transversely isotropic piezoelectric hollow fibers. The models are established based on micromechanics of representative volume element of concentric cylinders or so-called concentric cylinder model (CCM). Five elastic constants and two piezoelectric coefficients are predicted as a function of fiber volume fraction, matrix volume fraction, and their constituents’ properties in the SCA. Numerical results of a chosen material system are obtained and discussed. The models can be found useful for developing a SCA or a novel hollow fiber-reinforced composite with the desired properties.