Theoretical analysis on shear-bending deflection of a ring-shape piezoelectric plate

In this paper, the electromechanical coupling field in shear-bending mode for a ring-shape piezoelectric plate was theoretically established. According to the classical small bending elastic plate theory and piezoelectric constitutive equations, the analytical solution to the bending deformation of the piezo-actuator under electric field and a concentrated or uniformly distributed mechanical load was achieved. The mechanism for generating bending deformation is attributed to axisymmetric shear strain, which further induces the bending deformation of the single ring-shape piezoelectric plate. This mechanism is significant different from that of piezoelectric bimorph or unimorph actuators reported before. Our analysis offers guidance for the optimum design of a ring-shape shear-bending piezo-actuator.