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Piezoelectric materials are smart materials that can undergo mechanical deformation when electrically or thermally activated. An electric voltage is generated on the surfaces when a piezoelectric material is subjected to a mechanical stress. This is referred to as the ‘direct effect’ and finds application as sensors. The external geometric form of this material changes when it is subjected to an applied voltage, known as ‘converse effect’ and has been employed in the actuator technology. Such piezoelectric actuators generate enormous forces and make highly precise movements that are extremely rapid, usually in the micrometer range. The current work is focused towards the realization and hence application of the actuator technology based on piezoelectric actuation. Finite element simulations are performed on different types of piezoelectric actuations to understand the working principle of various actuators.

Carbon nanomaterials such as vertically aligned carbon nanotubes arrays are emerging new materials that have demonstrated superior mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. The carbon nanomaterials have the huge potential for a wide range of vehicular applications, including lightweight and multifunctional composites, high-efficiency batteries and ultracapacitors, durable thermal coatings, etc. In order to design the carbon nanomaterials for various applications, it is very important to develop effective computational methods to model such materials and structures. The present work presents a structural mechanics approach to effectively model the mechanical behavior of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. The carbon nanotube may be viewed as a geometrical space frame structure with primary bonds between any two neighboring atoms and thus can be modeled using three-dimensional beam elements.