Safety design concerns of the piezoelectric layer applications for vibration and noise controls

The reliability of a piezoelectrically controlled multi-layers composite structure is just as important as the performance. Since the piezoelectric layer may induce extremely high stresses to result in piezoelectrical/mechanical failures, the safety design of the multi-layer composite structure should be fully emphasized. For this issue, first an intensive literature review is given to the general features of multi-layered composite structures. The local piezoelectric coupling induced stress is shown to have the magnitude proportional to the square of vibration mode number. A detailed stress analysis for a beam with the active constrained layer damping is conducted to prove the high stresses distribution at the interfaces, and then a simulation of crack growth along the interface is addressed.