Micromechanically motivated finite element model for ferroelectric ceramics

Ferroelectric ceramics exhibit significant coupled electromechanical phenomena that have been widely employed in sensor and actuator applications. In regular finite element models dealing with electromechanical plane problems, each grain needs to be subdiscretized by many triangular or quadrilateral elements for required accuracy. This problem can be overcome by a polygonal finite element approach where each grain is modelled by a single finite element without compromising on the results. In this paper, a polygonal finite element approach has been employed to understand the anisotropic response of the ferroelectric ceramics in their piezoelectric region. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of nonlinear properties of ferroelectric and piezoceramicmaterials

Ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials are becoming a very significant part of smart materials that are used widely as actuators, sensors and most common applications such as vibration control, precision positioning, precision cutting and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Piezoceramic materials show nonlinear characteristics when they are under high electromechanical loading. In this study, nonlinear behaviour of tetragonal perovskite type piezoceramic materials is simulated using micromechanical model. In the simulations uni‐axial loading is applied. The calculations which are based on a linear constitutive model, nonlinear domain switching model and a model of probability to switch are performed at each grain. The different domain switching effects (900 or 1800 domain switching for tetragonal perovskite structure) due to energy differences, different probability functions, different statistical random generators and material parameters are analyzed. Finally, simulation results are compared with the data of experiments are giving in literature. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A constitutive and damage model for high cycle fatigue of tetragonal ferroelectrics

Reliability and life time of smart materials are crucial features for the development and design of actuator and sensor devices. Being widely used and exhibiting brittle failure characteristics, ceramic ferroelectrics are of particular interest in this field. Due to manifold interactions of the complex nonlinear constitutive behavior on the one hand and the damage evolution in terms of microcrack growth on the other, modeling and simulation are inevitable to investigate influence parameters on strength, reliability and life time. A condensed approach is used for the simulations considering just one characteristic point in the material, nonetheless accounting for polycrystalline grain interactions. On this basis, a model to predict the life time in terms of high cycle fatigue under electromechanical loading conditions is introduced. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A finite element modeling of piezoelectric materials with a superimposed stress

Based on the mechanism of domain switching, a three dimensional nonlinear finite element model for piezoelectric materials subjected to electromechancial loading is developed in this contribution. The finally considered model problem deals with differently oriented grains whereby uni-axial, quasi-static cyclic loading is applied. It is assumed that a crystal orientation switches if the reduction in free energy of the grain exceeds a critical energy barrier. The nonlinearity in the small electromechanical loading range is addresses via a polynomial probability function for domain switching. Hysteresis behavior is discussed taking the influence of a superimposed compression state into account. It is observed that the hysteresis loop flattens under the axial compression but elongates under the transverse compression. Irrespective of how the compression is applied, the remnant polarization and as well as the coercive electric field decrease. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A laminate-based framework for switching and microstructure evolution in polycrystalline ferroelectrics

This contribution deals with the numerical modelling of polycrystalline ferroelectric materials considering a sequential laminate-based approach established for tetragonal single-crystal ferroelectrics. The particular model [1] is considered and extended to predict the material behaviour of poly-crystal tetragonal ferroelectric ceramics. The derived laminate-based model is implemented in a finite element environment to simulate the time-dependent domain evolution and switching response of a bulk polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramic. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from vibrations of a beam subjected to multi-moving loads

This study is intended to investigate piezoelectric energy harvesting from vibrations of a beam induced by multi-moving loads. Various multi-moving loads are analyzed by considering various parameters. The system of equations for electro-mechanical materials is derived by using the generalized Hamilton's principle under the assumptions of the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. The electromechanical behavior of piezoelectric harvesters in a unimorph configuration is analyzed using finite element method. The Newmark's explicit integration technique is adopted for the transient analysis. The predictions of the results of the finite element models are verified by that of the available solutions. The effects of piezoelectric bonding location, velocity and number of moving loads as well as time lags between moving loads on the produced power are investigated. The numerical results show that the investigated parameters have significant effects on the energy harvesting from a vibration of beams under the action of multi-moving loads.     

A condensed approach to model the constitutive behavior of multiphase ferroelectric and multiferroic materials

Ferroelectric as well as ferromagnetic materials are widely used in smart structures and devices as actuators, sensors etc. Most of the developed models, describing the nonlinear behavior, are implemented within the framework of the Finite Element Method. Most investigations, however, are restricted to simple boundary value problems under uniaxial or biaxial loading and their goal is the calculation of hysteresis loops or to determine e.g. electromechanical coupling coefficients. Regarding these circumstances, the so-called condensed method (CM) is introduced to investigate the macroscopic polycrystalline ferroelectric material behavior at a macroscopic material point without any kind of discretization scheme. In the presented paper, the CM is extended towards multiphase ferroelectric material behavior. Moreover, first numerical results of a multiphase ferroelectric material at the morphotropic phase boundary are presented. (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Flexoelectric and surface effects on the electromechanical behavior of graphene-based nanobeams

In this novel work, the electromechanical behavior of graphene-based nanocomposite (GNC) beams with flexoelectric and surface effects were investigated using size-dependent Euler-Bernoulli theory, linear piezoelectricity and Galerkin's weighted residual method along with modified strength of materials and finite element (FE) approaches. In addition, analytical and FE models were developed to study the static response of flexoelectric GNC nanobeams with various boundary conditions: cantilever, simply-supported and clamped-clamped. The developed models predict that the effective piezoelectric coefficients of GNC are responsible for the actuation capability of a graphene layer in the transverse direction due to the applied field in its axial direction and the predictions by both the models are found to be in good agreement. Results reveal that the flexoelectric and surface effects on the static response of GNC nanobeams are significant and should be taken into account. The electromechanical response of GNC nanobeams can be tailored to achieve the required coupled electromechanical characteristics of a vast range of NEMS using various boundary conditions and thickness of nanobeam as well as volume fraction of graphene. Our fundamental study sheds a light on the possibility of developing high-performance and lightweight graphene-based NEMS such as nanosensors, nanogenerators and nanoresonators using non-piezoelectric graphene.     

Fracture toughness investigations of ferroelectric materials considering effects on macro- and micro-scale

In the present work we study toughness variation of ferroelectric materials (PZT-5H) considering different scales for different poling and loading conditions. On the macro-scale we apply an extended theory of stresses at interfaces in dielectric solids. Further, on the micro-scale, nonlinear effects are introduced by applying the small scale switching approximation. The analysis is done considering the full anisotropy and electromechanical coupling of the material. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

粘性流体两相多孔介质非线性动力问题的罚有限元法

采用基于混合物理论的多孔介质模型,给出粘性流体饱和两相多孔介质非线性动力问题的控制场方程以及相应边值和初值问题的提法,用Galerkin加权残值法导出罚有限元公式,并给出该非线性方程组的迭代求解方法。考虑了体积分数和渗透率与变形相关的情况。用编制的有限元程序计算分析了一维多孔柱体在脉冲载荷作用下的瞬态响应,数值结果表明文中方法正确有效。     

Finite element based nonlinear dynamic response of elastically supported piezoelectric functionally graded beam subjected to moving load in thermal environment with random system properties

The second order statistics in terms of mean and standard deviation (SD) of normalized nonlinear transverse dynamic central deflection (NTDCD) response of un-damped elastically supported functionally graded materials (FGMs) beam with surface-bonded piezoelectric layers under the action of moving load are investigated in this paper. The random system properties such as Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, density, thermal expansion coefficients, piezoelectric materials, volume fraction exponent and external loading are modeled as uncorrelated random variables. The basic formulation is based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) with von-Karman nonlinear strain kinematics combined with Newton–Raphson technique through Newmark's time integrating scheme using finite element method (FEM). The non-uniform temperature distribution with temperature dependent material properties is taken into consideration for consideration of thermal loading. The one parameter Pasternak elastic foundation with Winkler cubic nonlinearity is considered as an elastic foundation. The stochastic based second order perturbation technique (SOPT) and direct Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) are adopted for the solution of nonlinear dynamic governing equation. The influences of volume fraction exponents, temperature increments, moving loads and velocity, nonlinearity, slenderness ratios, foundation parameters and external loadings with random system properties on the NTDCD are examined. The capability of present stochastic model in predicting the NTDCD statistics are compared by studying their convergence with the existing results those available in the literature.     

n-sided polygonal hybrid finite elements with unified fundamental solution kernels for topology optimization

In topology optimization, the optimized design can be obtained based on spatial discretization of design domain using natural polygonal finite elements to reduce the influence of mesh geometry on topology optimization solutions. However, the natural polygonal finite elements require separate interpolants for each type of elements and involve troublesome domain integrals. In this study, an alternative n-sided polygonal hybrid finite element possessing multiple-node connection is formulated in a unified form to compress the checkerboard patterns caused by numerical instability in topology optimization. Different from the natural polygonal finite elements, the present polygonal hybrid finite elements involve two sets of independent displacement fields. The intra-element displacement field defined inside the element is approximated by the linear combination of the fundamental solution of the problem to achieve the purpose of the local satisfaction of the governing equations of the problem, but not the specific boundary conditions and the inter-element continuity conditions. To overcome such drawback, the inter-element displacement field defined over the entire element boundary is independently approximated by means of the conventional shape function interpolation. As a result, only line integrals along the element boundary are involved in the computation, whose dimension is reduced by one compared to the domain integrals in the natural polygonal finite elements, and more importantly, allowing us to flexibly construct any polygons from Voronoi tessellations in discretizing complex design domains using same fundamental solution kernels. Numerical results obtained indicate that the present n-sided polygonal hybrid finite elements can produce more accurate displacement solutions and smaller mean compliance, compared to the standard finite elements and the natural polygonal finite elements.     

Relaxation model of piezoelectric materials

Polarization switching inside grains is time dependent. When external applied loading is not quasi-static, macroscopic properties of piezoelectric materials changes with the rate of loading. In this paper, a 2-D micromechanical model is proposed in order to simulate the rate dependent properties of certain perovskite type tetragonal piezoelectric materials based on linear constitutive, nonlinear domain switching, intergranular effects and kinetics models. The material is electrically loaded with an alternating voltage of various frequencies. For the onset of domain switching, energy equation is implemented. Propagation of the domain wall during domain switching in grains is modeled by means of exponential kinetics relation after domain nucleation. Mechanical strain butterfly loops under different frequencies (0.01Hz–1Hz) are simulated. The model gives important insights into the rate dependency of the piezoelectric materials that have been observed in some experiments reported in the literature. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Numerical modeling of the active damping of forced thermomechanical resonance vibrations of viscoelastic shells of revolution with the help of piezoelectric inclusions

We consider the problem of active damping of forced resonance vibrations of viscoelastic shells of revolution with the help of piezoelectric sensors and actuators. Here, the interaction of electromechanical and thermal fields is taken into account. For modeling of vibrations, we use the Kirchhoff–Love hypotheses as well as hypotheses adequate to them and describing the distribution of temperature and electric field quantities. The shell temperature increases as a result of dissipative heating. For the active damping of vibrations, piezoelectric sensors and actuators are used. It is supposed that the electromechanical characteristics of materials depend on the temperature. The solution of this complex nonlinear problem has been obtained by the iterative method and finite element method. We have investigated the influence of temperature of dissipative heating on the efficiency of active damping of vibrations of a viscoelastic cylindrical panel with rigid restraint of its edges.     

Nonlinear finite element analysis and modeling of a precast hybrid beam–column connection subjected to cyclic loads

In this work, a detailed three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite element model is developed to study the response and predict the behavior of precast hybrid beam–column connection subjected to cyclic loads that was tested at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratory. The precast joint is modeled using 3D solid elements and surface-to-surface contact elements between the beam/column faces and interface grout in the vicinity of the connection. The model takes into account the pre-tension effect in the post-tensioning strand and the nonlinear material behavior of concrete. The model response is compared with experimental test results and yielded good agreement at all stages of loading. Fracture of the mild-steel bars resulted in the failure of the connection. In order to predict this failure mode, stress and strain fields in the mild-steel bars at the beam–column interface were generated from the analyzed model. Such fields of stresses and strains are hard to measure in experimental testing. In addition, the magnitude of the force developed in the post-tensioning steel tendon was also monitored and it was observed that it did not yield during the entire loading history. Successful finite element modeling will provide a practical and economical tool to investigate the behavior of such connections.     

A Holistic Simulation Approach from a Measured Load to Element Stress Using Combined Multi-body Simulation and Finite Element Modelling

The design of vehicle bodies requires the knowledge of the vehicle's structural response to external loads and disturbances. In rigid multi-body simulation the dynamic behaviour of complex systems is calculated with rigid bodies and neglect of body elasticity. On the other hand, in finite element models large degree of freedom numbers are used to represent the elastic properties of a single body. Both simulation methods can be combined, if the finite element model size is reduced to a degree of freedom number feasible to multi-body simulation. The application to practical purposes requires the use and interconnection of several different software tools. In this contribution a holistic method is presented, which starts with the measurement or synthesis of loads and excitations, continues with the integration of a reduced finite element model into a multi-body system, the dynamic response calculation of this combined model, and concludes with the result expansion to the full finite element model for calculating strain and stress values at any point of the finite element mesh. The applied software tools are Simpack, Nastran, and Matlab. An example is given with a railway vehicle simulated on measured track geometry. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Evolutionary structural optimization for problems with stiffness constraints

This paper presents a simple evolutionary procedure based on finite element analysis to minimize the weight of structures while satisfying stiffness requirements. At the end of each finite element analysis, a sensitivity number, indicating the change in the stiffness due to removal of each element, is calculated and elements which make the least change in the stiffness; of a structure are subsequently removed from the structure. The final design of a structure may have its weight significantly reduced while the displacements at prescribed locations are kept within the given limits. The proposed method is capable of performing simultaneous shape and topology optimization. A wide range of problems including those with multiple displacement constraints, multiple load cases and moving loads are considered. It is shown that existing solutions of structural optimization with stiffness constraints can easily be reproduced by this proposed simple method. In addition some original shape and layout optimization results are presented.     

A condensed microelectromechanical constitutive and damage model for tetragonal ferroelectrics

A condensed model for ferroelectric solids with tetragonal unit cells is presented. The approach is microelectromechanically and physically motivated, considering discrete switching processes on the level of unit cells and quasi-continuous evolution of inelastic fields on the domain wall level. To calculate multiple grain interactions an interaction tensor is introduced. Hysteresis loops are simulated for pure electric and electromechanical loading, demonstrating e.g. the influence of a compressive preload on the poling process and interaction between statistically arranged crystallits. The residual stresses and the corresponding principle stresses are used to simulate fatigue damage in ferroelectric materials. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A laminate-based modelling approach for rate-dependent switching in ferroelectric materials

This contribution focuses on the sequential laminate-based modelling approach for the numerical simulation of the complex electromechanical material behaviour of ferroelectric single crystals. The construction of engineered domain configurations by using the method of sequential lamination in order to study the domain evolution and polarisation switching in ferroelectric single crystals has recently been carried out in the works of [1–4]. By fulfilling the kinematic and polarisation compatibility conditions between the domain structures in a crystal, the proposed laminate-based formulation is governed by an energy-enthalpy function and by a dissipation potential. The mixed energy-enthalpy, written in terms of the total strains, electric field and a set of internal variables, here the multi-rank laminate volume fractions, governs the dissipative electromechanical response of the ferroelectric crystal, whereas the rate-dependent dissipation potential formulated in terms of the flux of the internal variables describes the time-dependent evolution of the multi-rank laminate volume fractions, subjected to inequality constraints. The model reproduces experimentally observed hysteresis and butterfly curves, characteristic for single crystal ferroelectric materials, when subjected to homogeneous electromechanical loading conditions. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)