Discussion on `Characterization of 1-3 piezoelectric polymer composites - a numerical and analytical evaluation procedure for thickness mode vibrations' by C.V. Madhusudhana Rao, G. Prasad, Condens. Matter Phys., 2010, Vol.13, No.1, 13703

In the paper entitled "Characterization of 1-3 piezoelectric polymer composites - a numerical and analytical evaluation procedure for thickness mode vibrations", the dependence of the thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient on the aspect ratio of piezoceramic fibers is studied by finite element simulation for various volume fractions of piezoceramic fibers in a 1-3 composite. The accuracy of the results is questionable because the boundary condition claiming that `predefined displacements are applied perpendicularly on $C^+$ plane on all nodes' is not suitable for the analysis of 1-3 composite with comparatively large aspect ratio from 0.2 to 1. A discussion regarding this problem and the suggested corrections are presented in this paper.