A High-Order CUF–FEM Framework for Thermo-Piezo-Mechanically Actuated Composite Structures

The present work investigates the geometrically nonlinear thermo-piezo-elastic response of composite plates with piezoelectric layers. The electric field allows control of the critical buckling temperature and the post-buckling deflection. The governing equations are derived from the Principle of Virtual Displacement (PVD) with the full Green-Lagrange strain tensor. A decoupled approach is considered to describe the multiphysics problem. The nonlinear problem is solved using the Newton-Raphson method with an arc-length constraint. The through-thickness stress distributions are also investigated, focusing on the interface between the composite laminate and the piezoelectric layers.