Axi-symmetric wave propagation in a cylinder coated with a piezoelectric layer

This paper presents the wave propagation in a cylinder coated with a thin piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric coupling effects are fully modeled in the mechanics model for this piezoelectric coupled cylindrical shell with bending resistance. The decoupled torsional wave velocity and the dispersion curves for the two- mode shell model are obtained theoritically. The cut-off frequency and phase velocities at limit wave number are also derived. The numerical simulations are conducted to present the results of wave propagation in this cylindrical shell and as well as to compare the results by the current bending theory and the membrane shell theory. From the comparisons, the results display obvious deference of wave propagations in terms of dispersion characteristics by different shell theories when thicker piezoelectric layer are used and when higher wave number is considered. The results of this paper can serve as a reference for future study on wave propagation in coupled structures as well as in the design of smart structures incorporating piezoelectric materials. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.