Electromechanical behavior of piezolaminated shell structures with imperfect functionally graded porous materials using an improved solid-shell element.

This work introduces a solid-shell element with eight nodes for the bending behavior of structures embedded with piezoelectric layers using the FSDT theory. The mechanical degrees of freedom are coupled, through the constitutive equations, with the piezoelectric one considering the linear distribution of the electric potential along the piezoelectric face's thickness. In order to subdue shear and thickness locking, the Assumed Natural Strain (ANS) method as well as the Enhanced Assumed Strain (EAS) method are adopted. Bonding the external faces of shell structures with piezofaces accentuates the smart aspect of solid shells. The middle part of the structure is made of a Functionally Graded Material (FGM) with distributed pores along the thickness. The formulated finite element model is implemented to investigate the effects of some parameters on the bending response of solid shells such as the impact of various configurations of porous FGM, the power law index of FGM and some geometrical parameters of solid shell structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]