Hygrothermal coupling analysis of magneto-electroelastic beams using finite element methods

Abstract

In this article, the finite element (FE) method has been used to assess the coupled static behavior of hygro-thermo-magneto-electroelastic (HTMEE) beam. Influence of externally applied hygrothermal loads on the direct (displacements, electric and magnetic potentials) and derived quantities (stresses, electric displacement and magnetic flux densities) of HTMEE beam have been studied in detail. The principle of total potential energy and the coupled constitutive equations of HTMEE material are used for the FE formulation. A generalized condensation technique is adopted to solve the global FE equations of motion. Numerical examples are discussed to examine the effect of hygrothermal loads and distinct effect of moisture concentration on the behavior of the beam. Particular emphasis has been placed to analyze the influence of temperature and moisture dependent elastic stiffness coe?cients associated with empirical constants. Considering the independent effect of temperature and moisture on the coupled static responses, the most significant combination of the empirical constants corresponding to temperature dependency and moisture dependency are explored. Extensive computational examples are considered to examine the significant effect of boundary conditions, temperature gradient, moisture concentration gradient and empirical constants on the static behavior of HTMEE beam. It is observed that the static behavior of HTMEE beam is significantly influenced by the hygrothermal loads and empirical constants. The results presented in this article would serve as a benchmark results in design and analysis of HTMEE structures for sensors and actuators applications. 2018 Taylor & Francis.