Bending of piezoelectric bimorph plates under a coupled action of electric and thermal fields
The bending of piezoelectric bimorph plates subject to electric and thermal loadings is investigated. Based on the constitutive equations for the generalized plane stress problems of piezoelectric materials, the stresses and the electric displacements of piezoelectric bimorph plates with different configurations are obtained by virtue of Kirchhoff's hypothesis and Saint-Venant's hypothesis. Analytical expressions for the deflection of piezoelectric bimorph cantilever as an actuator are obtained.