Wave packet enriched finite element for accurate modelling of thermoelectroelastic wave propagation in functionally graded solids

Abstract

A wave packet enriched finite element (FE) formulation featuring electrothermomechanical coupling is presented for solving two-dimensional wave propagation problems in functionally graded elastic and piezoelectric media. The FE equations for the Lord-Shulman and Green-Lindsay theories of generalized piezothermoelasticity are derived, where the standard Lagrangian interpolation functions of the temperature, electric potential, and displacement field variables are extrinsically enriched with element-domain sinusoidal wave-packet functions and are solved using the Newmark–β direct time integration. The effective properties of the functionally graded material (FGM) are computed using the volume-fraction-based micromechanics models, the Mori-Tanaka model and Voigt's rule of mixture (ROM) model. A variety of wave propagation problems, including the mechanically and electrically excited high-frequency Lamb wave propagation in FGM plates, impact waves in FGM bars, and thermal shock waves in functionally graded piezoelectric cylinders, are solved using the present formulation, and results are validated with available solutions. The efficacy of the current solution in comparison with the conventional FE is evaluated for all the studied problems. The effect of the inhomogeneity parameter on the transient wave behaviour is also presented for all the problems. The results of the Mori–Tanaka model are compared with those of the widely used ROM.