Study on snap-through actuation for the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly

All available theoretical researches on the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly have been fundamentally concerned with the static snap-through, while dynamic researches on the assembly have been more pronounced based on experiments for the dynamic snap-through. However, theoretical researches on both the static and dynamic snap-through for the assembly have hardly been carried out. In this article, the theoretical model for the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly is elaborated, elucidating the static and dynamic snap-through by deploying the static and dynamic voltages. To initiate the static snap-through, the voltage–curvature and voltage–displacement curves are graphically presented, delivering the whole path of the process of the static actuation. To initiate the dynamic snap-through, the assembly is activated dynamically while the MFC actuator is expanded by the dynamic voltage. The dynamic responses for the assembly are characterized by the limit-cycle oscillation, the periodic, and chaotic snap-through and the secondary Hopf bifurcation. The theoretical model proofs the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly to be developed and promising, which provides a validation source for the actuation strategy of the desirable snap-through and the suppression strategy of the undesirable snap-through.