I am using a piezo actuator to generate lamb waves. Since, ABAQUS/Explicit can't handle piezoelectric materials or electric potential as boundary conditions, I am using computationally expensive ABAQUS/Implicit.
The simulations works fine for simple configurations - Few piezo sensors (modeled using solid elements) attached to a composite plate (modeled using shell elements). I used Tie Constraints (Surface-Surface discretization).
However, if I try to do the same for a more complicated configuration (A curved sandwiched structure), the piezo actuator undergoes large deformations but it generates no Lamb waves...
Please let me know your suggestions.
I have a few advices for you. Define your own piezomaterial wihtin a VUMAT. I did it that way to analyse Lamb waves in Abaqus explicit.
If the piezo actuator deforms but nothing happens, you could check the stiffness, the density of all materials. Also you can scale the results of your model. The deformation of the actuator are much bigger compared to the structure.
You can try with implicit-explicit modeling. The procedure is as followes:
a) PZT actuator is modeled in ABAQUS/Implicit analasys and deformation is read in this model.
b) Using the deformation in implicit analysis, actuator is replaced with boundary condition in ABAQUS/EXPLICIT analisys to model Lamb wave propagation.
Do you have to simulate the PZT as well? As an alternative method if you only need the signal, you could use a sinusoidal force on certain area and take the displacement U3 from certain node(s).
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