On the effect of foam structures on thermo-mechanical vibration response of functionally graded piezoelectric smart plates

Abstract This study models and investigates the effects of foam structure and thermal load on the thermomechanical vibration behavior of functionally graded (FGM) piezoelectric plates made of PZT-5H and BaTiO 3 . The Navier technique is used to solve the equation of motion of the plates, which is derived from Hamilton's principle and higher-order shear theory. The FGM plate is made of BaTiO 3 on the bottom and PZT-5H solid/foam material on the top, and the study investigates four different foam models: uniform, symmetric, bottom, and top foam. In addition to temperature loading and applied external electric current, the study looked at how different material grading indices and foam topologies affected the smart plate's vibration buckling behavior. PZT-5H is the material with the highest thermal vibration buckling resistance of the solid smart plate, whereas the Symmetric Foam structure has the highest thermal resistance and the Uniform Foam structure has the lowest. In addition to the thermal load, the applied external electric potential causes a softening effect due to electro-elastic behavior, and the foam structure has been shown to improve the thermal vibration behavior of the smart FGM plate. It was also discovered that the usage of BaTiO 3 and PZT-5H, as well as the foam structure, improved the electro-elastic behavior of the smart FGM plate.