Active fiber composites are among the many other components used in intelligent and smart composite structures which undergo mechanical deformation upon the application of external loads or electric fields. This work presents an analytical approach for derivations of exact solutions for the effective axial mechanical properties of active fiber composites with circular cross-sections, and while the properties of the constituent materials are considered to be generally orthotropic. First, exact analytical solutions of the effective longitudinal Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are obtained for a three-phase composite cylindrical model composed of orthotropic materials. Next, Finite element analysis, as an alternative approach, is performed to numerically determine the effective axial properties of an identical three-phase composite cylinder. Finally, effective material properties obtained from analytical and finite element methods are compared to verify the derived analytical solutions. Excellent agreements are achieved between the results obtained from both techniques validating the exact analytical solutions.
The potential of active fiber composites made from piezoelectric fibers for actuating and sensing applications in structural health monitoring
