A representative volume element model to evaluate the effective properties of flexoelectric nanocomposite

Abstract

In this paper, a computational homogenization approach is developed to investigate the effective material properties of flexoelectric nanocomposites. The analysis incorporates the isogeometric analysis (IGA) to solve an electromechanically coupled system using a 3D representative volume element (RVE) model with periodic boundary conditions. In particular, a micromechanical analysis is carried out to represent the microstructure of a heterogeneous domain composed of an elastic matrix and cylindrical flexoelectric fibers. The numerical simulations indicated that while the effective tensor of piezoelectricity is isotropic, the flexoelectricity tensor is transversely anisotropic concerning the geometry of the composite’s phases. Furthermore, the flexoelectricity coefficients, μ¯3113 and μ¯3333, which couple the polarization to the strain gradients with respect to the longitudinal axis, improved remarkably with increasing the inclusion’s volume fraction. The presented computational methodology and the findings of this study is expected to contribute valuably towards the design of flexoelectric nanostructures and devices.