Application of Commercial Finite Element Codes for the Analysis of Induced Strain-Actuated Structures

For the past decade, much research effort has been devoted to finite element formulation for the electromechanical coupling effects of piezoelectric materials, and yet, fully elec tromechanical coupled piezoelectric elements have just recently become available in commercialized finite element analysis pack ages. This paper surveys the capabilities of the piezoelectric ele ments provided by commercial FEA codes. Two major packages, ANSYS by Swanson, Inc. and ABAQUS by HKS, Inc., have been reviewed. The finite element formulation of the piezoelectric ele ments are outlined and available element and analysis types are summarized. A simple case of static and dynamic finite element analysis involving piezoelectric and structural coupling has been performed. It has been shown that the piezoelectric elements in the commercial FEA codes give results comparable with those ob tained from proven analytical methods.