Thermo-piezoelectric effects on the postbuckling of axially-loaded hybrid laminated cylindrical panels

A compressive postbuckling analysis is presented for a laminated cylinderical panel with piezoelectric actuators subjected to the combined action of mechanical, electrical and thermal loads. The temperature field considered is assumed to be a uniform distribution over the panel surface and through the panel thickness and the electric field is assumed to be the transverse component Ez only. The material properties are assumed to be independent of the temperature and the electric field. The governing equations are based on the classical shell theory with von Kármán-Donnell-type of kinematic nonlinearity. The nonlinear prebuckling deformations and initial geometric imperfections of the panel are both taken into account. A boundary layer theory of shell buckling, which includes the effects of nonlinear prebuckling deformations, large deflections in the postbuckling range, and initial geometric imperfections of the shell, is extended to the case of hybrid laminated cylindrical panels of finite length. A singular perturbation technique is employed to determine the buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the compressive postbuckling behavior of perfect and imperfect, cross-ply laminated cylindrical thin panels with fully covered or embedded piezoelectric actuators under different sets of thermal and electrical loading conditions. The effects played by temperature rise, applied voltage, stacking sequence, the character of in-plane boundary conditions, as well as initial geometric imperfections are studied.