Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2009
The purpose of this paper is to derive and study a new asymptoticmodel for the equilibrium state of a thin anisotropicpiezoelectric plate in frictional contact with a rigid obstacle.In the asymptotic process, the thickness of the piezoelectricplate is driven to zero and the convergence of the unknowns isstudied. This leads to two-dimensional Kirchhoff-Love plateequations, in which mechanical displacement and electric potentialare partly decoupled. Based on this model numerical examples arepresented that illustrate the mutual interaction between themechanical displacement and the electric potential. We observethat, compared to purely elastic materials, piezoelectric bodiesyield a significantly different contact behavior.