Delay of creep buckling and of probabilistic failures of linear viscoelastic plates through piezoelectric control

Analyses and computational simulations are carried out for creep buckling and stochastic delamination onset failures of viscoelastic plates under piezo-viscoelastic control. Creep buckling times and probabilities of failure are determined and design criteria based on critical times and/or times to reach preassigned levels of failure probabilities are examined. It is shown that piezoelectric control can be effectively used to delay, but not always eliminate, creep buckling and delamination onset. The failure theory considers combined effects of bending, shear, compression and interlaminar stresses and delamination onset may occur at smaller in-plane loads than critical buckling loads in elastic plates and at shorter viscoelastic lifetimes. Post buckling behavior of viscoelastic plates leads to continued load carrying abilities, but with diminishing lifetimes due to viscoelastic failures unless piezoelectric control is used to extend such lifetimes and to diminish their corresponding failure probabilities.