Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Structures, School of Aerospace
d
Engineering,
ite
Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, People’s Republic of China
ed
*
E-mail: tonydqian@mail.xjtu.edu.cn , sshen@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
py
Co
Abstract
Flexoelectric effect is a universal and size dependent electromechanical coupling between the
ot
strain gradient and electric field. The mathematical framework for flexoelectricity, which
tN
involves higher order gradients of field quantities, is difficult to handle using traditional finite
rip
flexoelectricity and strain gradient elasticity. To validate the developed element, we simulate the
compare the numerical results to analytical results. Their excellent agreement shows the
ed
reliability of the proposed finite element method. The developed finite element is also used to
pt
By decreasing the sample size, we observed the increase of its effective piezoelectricity.
Ac
However, due to the effects of strain gradient elasticity and the influence of flexoelectricity on
stiffness, the dependency of effective piezoelectricity on the sample size is not trivial. Numerical
*
Corresponding author
results indicate that, when the sample size is smaller than a certain value, the increase of
effective piezoelectricity slows down. This finding also shows the importance of a numerical tool
d
Keywords: Mixed finite elements; Flexoelectricity; Nanostructure; Strain gradient effect
ite
ed
1. Introduction
py
Piezoelectricity is the most exploited electromechanical coupling that links the electric field and
Co
strain [1-5] . However, this coupling is not universal but only exists in non-centrosymmetric
ot
tN
coupling between strain gradients and electric fields [6, 7]. Compared with piezoelectricity,
flexoelectricity exists in all dielectrics and including ones that are non-piezoelectric [8-10].
rip
Particularly, flexoelectricity has been studied intensively for a wide variety of materials,
sc
including crystalline materials [11-14], liquid crystals [6, 15-17], polymers [9, 18, 19] and lipid
nu
bilayer membranes [20-22]. Another feature that makes flexoelectricity different from
Ma
when down to the nanometer length scale, it can be very strong since the strain gradient usually
ed
increases reciprocally with the decrease of sample size. In recent years, flexoelectricity has
pt
attracted the attentions from different fields. In a recent review article by Krichen and Sharma, it
ce
is pointed out that flexoelectricity is probably contributing to our hearing mechanism [23].
Ac
developed a theoretical framework for solid crystalline materials [12, 24]. Sharma and
coworkers established a systematic mathematical framework for flexoelectricity [25, 26] and
analytically solved problems with simple geometry and boundary conditions. Then, Shen and Hu
introduced surface effects to the theoretical framework of flexoelectricity [27]. Deng et al. [28]
developed a nonlinear flexoelectric theory which can be used to study flexoelectricity in soft
d
materials under large deformation. Analytical approaches for flexoelectricity usually involve
ite
boundary value problems (BVPs) described by a set of fourth order partial differential equations
ed
and only few of those with simple geometry and boundary conditions can be solved analytically.
py
Most recently, Deng et al. proposed a nanoscale energy harvesting system based on the
Co
flexoelectric effect [29]. Liang et al. studied the performance of layered flexoelectric energy
harvesters and found that the energy conversion efficiency for a triple layer system is much
ot
tN
larger than the single and double layer systems [30]. Gharbi et al. studied a nanoindentation
problem with the consideration flexoelectricity and showed the importance of size effect [31,
rip
32]. But for practical problems with more complex geometries, it is very difficult to obtain
sc
analytical solutions.
nu
Ma
As well as theoretical works, a lot of experiments on flexoelectricity also have been done.
Flexoelectricity was experimentally discovered in liquid crystals [6]. Later, most experimental
ed
works were focused on the measurement of flexoelectric coefficients. Cross and coworkers
pt
[33, 34]. Harden et al. presented a direct method for measuring the flexoelectric coefficients of
Ac
nematic liquid crystals via the electric current [35]. Lu et al. developed an improved approach to
measure the direct flexoelectric coefficient of bulk polyvinylidene fluoride based on charge
measurement [19]. Also, there are many other interesting works on flexoelectricity have been
done. Lu et al. experimentally studied the polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films [36].
With a nano thin film, Lee et al. showed that flexoelectricity can be used to generate rectifying
diode effect [37]. Recently, Kim et al. proposed a power-saving in-plane switching mode
d
ite
Compared with theoretical and experimental works, numerical study for flexoelectricity is
ed
relatively rare. Ginzburg-Landau theory and two-dimensional (2D) phase field simulations were
py
used by Ahluwalia et al. [39] and Chen [40] to study the influence of flexoelectricity on domain
Co
patterns and domain walls in ferroelectrics. Recently, Chen et al. developed a 3 dimensional
phase field method to study the stability and evolution path of various ferroelectric domain
ot
tN
patterns in nanofilms [41]. In addition, the 2D and 3D meshfree methods were used to simulate
the flexoelectric behavior of compressed pyramid and guide the measurement of flexoelectric
rip
coefficients [42, 43]. Finite element method is another effective numerical approach for solving
sc
boundary value problems. Compared with the phase field method and meshfree method, finite
nu
element method is more general and can be easily cooperated to software packages. But C1
Ma
continuous elements are required when using the traditional displacement based approach as
strain gradients, second order derivatives of displacement, are considered. Most recently,
ed
Yvonnet and Liu adopted C1 Argyrus triangular elements for the finite element modeling of soft
pt
flexoelectric solids with finite strains [44]. But C1 continuous elements are usually complicated
ce
to construct and an alternative way to deal with higher order derivatives is using the so called
Ac
mixed finite elements. In fact, some 2D mixed elements for strain gradient effects have been
developed [45-48]. More recently, Bradley developed a 2D mixed element for flexoelectricity
considering only the electric response to curvature [49]. Mao et al. developed a 2D mixed
element considering the full coupling between strain gradients and electric polarization. In our
recent work [50], several typical 2D mixed finite elements for flexoelectricity were developed
based on the weak form of the principle of virtual work. Ghasemi et al. and Nanthakumar et al.
also developed a 2D mixed element and studied the topology optimization of flexoelectric
d
structures [51, 52].
ite
ed
So far, all the developed mixed elements are 2D. So, in this paper, we develop a 3D mixed finite
py
element for flexoelectric materials. The new developed element has additional nodal degrees of
Co
freedom for displacement-gradients and Lagrange multipliers which are used to enforce the
relationship between the displacement and its gradient. To validate the developed 3D mixed
ot
tN
element, we solve a problem of spherical shell under inner/outer pressure both analytically and
numerically. Simulation results also show that flexoelectricity can enhance the stiffness of the
rip
structure. Then the developed element was used to model the electromechanical behavior of a
sc
Here, the outline of this paper is given. In section 1, we present an introduction. The theory with
both flexoelectricity and strain gradient elasticity is shown in section 2. In section 3, the
ed
details. The validation of the developed element is shown in section 4. In section 5, we analyze
ce
2. Flexoelectricity theory
For linear electromechanical theory, the enthalpy density in bulk Ω with flexoelectricity and
d
1 1 1 1
ite
h= σ ijε ij + τ ijkηijk − Di Ei − G ji Ei , j (1)
2 2 2 2
ed
ε jk (uk , j + u j , k ) / 2 , ηijk = ε jk ,i and Ei = −ϕ,i are strain ,strain gradient
In the above equation, =
py
and electric field respectively, where u and φ are the displacement vector and electric potential
Co
respectively. σ ij and τ ijk are stresses and higher order stress. Di and Gij are electric displacement
ot
and the higher order electric displacement which are work-conjuncts of electric field Ei and the
tN
gradient of electric field Ei , j , respectively. Then the total enthalpy can be written as
rip
= ∫ hdv −
Ω
(2)
sc
where
nu
= ∫ bk uk dv + ∫ t u ds + ∫ r γ
k k k k ds − ∫ qϕ ds − ∫ ωθ ds (3)
Ω ∂Ωt ∂Ω r ∂Ω r ∂Ω r
Ma
is the work done by general external forces. In Eq. (3) bk is the body force. γ k and θ are normal
ed
rk , q and ω are prescribed external forces. Using variational principle to Eq. (2), both governing
ce
equations and boundary conditions can be obtained. The governing equations include the
Ac
equation of equilibrium
σ jk , j − τ ijk ,ij + bk =
0 (4)
Di ,i − Gij ,ij =
0 . (5)
d
ite
(2) displacement boundary condition:
ed
uk = uk on ∂Ωu (7)
py
(3) higher order traction boundary condition:
rk = τ ijk ni n j on ∂Ωr
Co
(8)
γ k = uk ,i ni on ∂Ωγ
ot (9)
tN
(5) electric displacement boundary condition:
rip
ϕ = ϕ on ∂Ωφ (11)
Ma
∂ ∂
∇tj (=
) () − n j nm () is the tangent gradient operator . In Eqs. (6~13), ∂Ωt ∂Ωu=∂Ωγ
∂x j ∂xm
∂Ωγ=∂Ωφ ∂Ωq=∂Ωω ∂Ωθ and ∂Ωt ∂Ωu=∂Ωγ ∂Ωγ=∂Ωφ ∂Ωq=∂Ωω ∂Ωθ = ∅ should be
satisfied, where ∂Ω is the boundary surface of bulk Ω. We should note that Eqs. (8~9) and Eqs.
(12~13) are introduced by higher order stress and higher order electric displacement respectively.
The detail derivation for the variational calculus can be found in Appendix A.
d
2.2. Constitutive law
ite
The electrical enthalpy density for dielectric materials with flexoelectricity, piezoelectricity and
ed
strain gradient elasticity considered can be written as [25, 26]
py
1 1 1
h= cijklε ijε kl + aijklmnηijkηlmn − dijk Eiε jk − fijkl Eiη jkl + gijkl E j ,iε kl − κ ij Ei E j (14)
Co
2 2 2
In Eq. (14), the first and second terms are the strain and strain gradient energy density
ot
respectively. c and a are related material properties tensors. The following three terms
tN
correspond to piezoelectricity, direct flexoelectricity and converse flexoelectricity. The
rip
piezoelectric coefficient tensor denoted by d. f and g are direct and converse flexoelectric
sc
coefficients respectively. The last term in Eq. (14) is the contribution of electrostatic and κ ij is
nu
the dielectric constant which is further written as ε 0 (δ ij + χ ij ) , where ε 0 is the dielectric constant
Ma
in vacuum, χ ij represents the electric susceptibility and δ ji is the Kronecker delta symbol. Since
stress, higher order stress, electric displacement and higher order electric displacement are the
ed
energy conjunct part of strain, strain gradient, electric field and electric field gradient,
pt
∂h
σ ij = =cijkl ε kl − d kij Ek − g klij Ek ,l
Ac
(15)
∂ε ij
∂h
τ ijk
= = aijklmnηlmn − flijk El (16)
∂ηijk
∂h
Di =
− κ ij E j + dijk ε jk + fijklη jkl
= (17)
∂Ei
∂h
Gij =
− − gijkl ε kl
= (18)
∂E j ,i
d
ite
2.3. Simplified situation for isotropic materials
ed
Here, we give the simplified situation for isotropic materials. For isotropic materials, the third
py
term of Eq. (14) equals zero since piezoelectricity does not exist in materials with
Co
centrosymmetric crystalline structures. As Converse and direct flexoelectricity can be expressed
in one term using integration by parts [50], converse flexoelectricity is also neglected. Thus, Eq.
ot
(14) is simplified as
tN
1 1
h= λε jj ε kk + µε jk ε jk + l 2 (λε jj ,iε kk ,i + 2µε ijε ij )
2 2
rip
, (19)
1
− f1ε jj ,i Ei − 2 f 2ε ij ,i E j − κ Ei Ei
2
sc
where λ and μ are Lamé constants for elasticity, and l is length scale of material. f1 and f 2 are
nu
two independent flexoelectric coefficients and κ is dielectric constant. Then Eqs. (15-18) can be
Ma
written as
ed
∂h
σ jk
= = λε iiδ jk + 2 µε jk (20)
∂ε jk
pt
∂h
= l 2 ( λε ll ,iδ jk + 2 µε jk ,i ) − f1 Eiδ jk − 2 f 2 E jδ ik
ce
τ ijk
= (21)
∂ε jk ,i
Ac
∂h
Di = − = κ Ei + f1ε ll ,i + 2 f 2ε ji , j (22)
∂Ei
Gij = 0 (23)
Inserting Eqs. (20~23) into governing equations (4~5), we obtain the equilibrium equation and
f
ϕ,ii − ∇ 2ui ,i =
0 (24)
κ
d
(λ + µ )(1 − l12∇ 2 )ui ,ik + µ (1 − l 2∇ 2 )uk ,ii =0 (25)
ite
where
ed
f2
l12= l 2 + , f= f1 + 2 f 2 (26)
py
(λ + µ )κ
Co
Note that the higher order electric displacement boundary conditions can be neglected as the
converse flexoelectricity is not considered and higher order electric displacement equals to
zero.
ot
tN
rip
This section presents the detailed derivation of stiffness matrix for a 3D mixed element with
nu
both flexoelectricity and strain gradient elasticity effects considered. Then a hexahedral element
is developed in Cartesian coordinate system (x1, x2, x3). In our previous work [50], the principle
Ma
≈ ∫ bk δ uk dv + ∫ tk δ uk ds + ∫ qδϕ ds + ∫ γ k δϑk ds
Ω ∂Ωt ∂Ωω ∂Ωω
ce
In Eq. (27), there are independent variables not only for displacement vector uk and electric
Ac
potential φ, but also for displacement-gradients ψ jk and Lagrange multipliers α jk which are
used to constrain the relationship between displacements and their gradients. Compared
continuous element. In the following, we formulate the stiffness matrix for isotropic
First, we present the discrete form of Eq. (27) within a finite element ΩE. In element ΩE,
d
displacement, displacement-gradient, electric potential and Lagrangian multipliers can be
ite
interpolated directly by nodal degrees of freedoms.
ed
ψ 11 α11
ψ α
py
12 12
ψ 12 α13
Co
u1 ψ 21 α 21
=u = , ψ ψ
u2 Bu u= = Bψ ψ
, ϕ = Bϕ=
φ , α =
α 22 Bα α (28)
22
ot
u3 ψ 23 α 23
ψ α
tN
31 31
ψ 32 α 32
ψ α
33 33
rip
In Eq. (28), Bu ,Bψ ,Bφ, and Bα are the interpolation functions of displacement,
sc
∂1 0 0
∂2 0
ε11 0 ∂Bu
ed
ε 0 0 ∂3
22 ∂x1
ε 33 1 ∂ 1
0 = ∂Bu
pt
ε = ∂1
= 2 2 Bu u Bε u =
, ∇u = u B∇uu (29)
ε
12
2
∂x2
1
ce
ε 23 0 1 ∂Bu
∂3 ∂2
2 2
ε 31 ∂x3
Ac
1 1
∂3 0 ∂1
2 2
∂Bϕ ∂N η
−
∂x1 ∂x1
∂Bϕ ∂N η
E=
− φ =
B Eφ , η
= = ψ B ηψ (30)
∂x2 ∂x2
∂B ∂N
− ϕ η
∂x3 ∂x3
d
ite
where
ed
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
py
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Nη = Bψ (31)
Co
0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 0
0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
∂ ∂ ∂
γ = γ 2 = ( n1 + n2 + n3 )Bu u = B γ u (32)
x1 x2 x3
γ 3
sc
Using constitutive relation Eqs. (20~22) and Eqs. (28~32), discrete form of Eq. (28) can be
nu
written as
Ma
Ω Ω
∫ +δ α − δ α
B IB ψ dvψ ∫ T ∫ E B Tψ IBα dvα
BαT IB∇u dvu + δ ψ
T T T
(33)
pt
ΩE α ΩE Ω
−δ u ∫ T
BT∇u IBα dvα − δ φ T ∫ BTE D EE B E dvφ
ce
ΩE ΩE
= δ u ∫ T
BTu t E ds + δ u T ∫ BTγ r e ds + δ φ T ∫ BϕT q e ds
∂ΩtE ∂Ω rE ∂Ω qE
Ac
In Eq. (33),I is the unit matrix of 9th order and for isotropic materials
λ + 2µ λ λ 0 0 0
λ λ + 2µ λ 0 0 0
l 2 Dεε 0 0
λ λ λ + 2µ 0 0 0
Dεε = , Dηη = 0
2
l Dεε 0 (34)
0 0 0 4µ 0 0
0 0 l 2 Dεε
0 0 0 0 4µ 0
0 0 0 0 0 4µ
d
ite
0 2 f2 0 0 0 0 2 f2
D= ( f + 2 f )I 2 f2 0 03×4 0 2 f2 0 0 03×4 0
1 (35)
ed
Eη 2 3×3
0 0 2 f2 0 0 2 f2 0
py
κ 0 0
= 0 κ 0
Co
DEE (36)
0 0 κ
ot
Then, Eq. (33) can be further written as tN
u k uu k uα u u
T T
0 k uφ Fu
φ 0
0 φ
= δ φ
k φφ k φψ
Fφ
rip
δ (37)
ψ k φu k ψφ k ψψ k ψα ψ ψ 0
α k αu 0 k αψ 0 α α 0
sc
nu
where
Ω Ω Ω Ω
(38)
ed
and
pt
=Fu ∫Ω
BuTb Ε dv + ∫
∂ΩtE
BuT t E ds , Fϕ = ∫∂ΩE BϕT q E ds
q
(40)
k uu 0 k uφ k uα Fu
0 k φφ k φψ 0 F
E = , E = φ (41)
k φu k ψφ k ψψ k ψα 0
k αu 0 k αψ 0 0
Here, we note that the above formulations can be used to anisotropic materials just with certain
d
modifications to constitutive law Eqs. (33~36). Base on Eqs. (28~41), only C0 continuous shape
ite
functions are required. So it is convenient to develop 3 dimensional elements, including
ed
tetrahedron and hexahedral elements . Hexahedral element usually shows better accuracy in
py
predicting the strain gradient and electric field. Strain gradient varies linearly within a hexahedral
Co
element but keeps constant within a tetrahedron element when both of them use the first order
ot
shape functions for displace-gradients. For this consideration, we construct a hexahedral
tN
isoparametric element with 27 nodes, as shown in Fig. 1. The detailed information about this
Figure 1. Sketch of a hexahedral element. The element has 27 nodes, 8 corner nodes colored in
black and 19 other nodes colored in red which include 12 edge-centered nodes,6 surface-centered
Fig. 1 shows the schematic of the 27-node hexahedral element. It has 233 degrees of freedoms
(DOF) in total. The DOF contains all independent variables in Eq. (27), including displacement
The corner nodes (in black) of the element in Fig.1 have 22 DOFs in total, including 3
d
displacement components, electric potential, 9 displacement-gradient components and 9
ite
Lagrangian multipliers. For other nodes (in red), there are only three DOFs for displacement. In
ed
the developed element, three components of displacement are interpolated using quadratic
py
Lagrangian shape function and for all other variables only linear Lagrangian shape functions are
Co
used. Meanwhile, 27 Gaussian points integrations are used to calculate element stiffness matrix
and 9 point Newton-Cotes integrations are employed to compute the right hand vector.
ot
tN
4. Validation of element
rip
To validate the performance of the developed mixed finite element, in this section, we first
sc
analytically solve a flexoelectric spherical shell compressed on inner /outer surface. The
nu
analytical solution can provide a benchmark for numerical method of flexoelectricity. Then we
Ma
simulate the same problem with the developed element and compared the numerical result with
d
ite
ed
py
Co
ot
Figure 2. Model of spherical shell subjected to inner/outer pressure pi / po . Inner and outer
tN
radius of the sphere are ρi and ρo .
rip
The spherical shell subjected to inner/outer pressure is a spherically symmetric problem. Thus,
both radial displacement and electric potential are only functions of radius ρ. Then we have
nu
uρ = u ( ρ ) (42)
Ma
ϕ = ϕ (ρ ) (43)
ed
f du 2u
∇ 2ϕ − ∇2 ( + )=0 (44)
ce
κ dρ ρ
Ac
2l02 2u ( ρ )
(1 − l02∇ 2 − )(∇ 2u ( ρ ) − ) =0 (45)
ρ 2
ρ2
where
f2
l02= l 2 + (46)
(λ + µ )κ
and
d2 2 d
∇=
2
+ (47)
dρ 2
ρ dρ
d
ite
is the Laplace operator in spherical coordinate system. Eqs. (44~45) are solved in detail in
ed
Appendix B and the general solutions are
py
f du 2 C
ϕ ( ρ=
) ( + u ) + 1 + C2 (48)
κ dr ρ ρ
Co
C4 C5 ρ C ρ
u( ρ ) = C3 ρ + + I3 2 ( ) + 6 K3 2 ( ) (49)
ρ 2
ρ l0 ρ l0
ot
tN
where C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6 are six arbitrary constants. I3/2 and K3/2 are 3/2th order modified
Bessel functions of the first and second kind respectively. To determine six arbitrary constants,
rip
six boundary conditions are required. They are two traction boundary conditions
sc
t ρ ( ρi ) = − pi , t ρ ( ρo ) = − po , (50)
nu
γ ρ ( ρi ) = 0 , γ ρ ( ρ o ) = 0 , (51)
ed
ϕ ( ρi ) = 0 , Dρ ( ρo ) = 0
pt
. (52)
ce
Ac
Now, we use the developed element to simulate the same problem in section 4.2. In the
simulation, we set the inner and outer radius of the sphere to be ρi = 5μm and ρo =25μm
respectively. The loaded pressure on inner surface is pi =100Mpa and outer pressure is zero.
d
ν κ(C/m/v)
ite
Y(GPa) l (µm) f1 ( C/m) f 2 ( C/m)
ed
139.0 0.3 5
py
Co
ot
tN
rip
sc
Figure 3. Finite element model for the 1/8 spherical shell. There are 6000 hexahedral elements in
nu
total, 20 elements on radius and 300 elements on spherical surface. Symmetric boundary
Ma
conditions are used in 3 symmetric surface, (x=0) plane, (y=0) plane and (z=0) plane.
ed
In FEM simulation, we adopt 1/8 model considering symmetry of the sphere and the symmetric
pt
conditions are showed in Fig. 3. The 1/8 sphere contains 6000 hexahedral elements in total and
ce
287,172 DOFs in total. The problem was simulated on a PC and took less than 10 minutes. The
Ac
Fig. 4a shows the comparison of FEM result of radial displacement with analytical solution, and
it shows that FEM result has a good agreement with the analytical solution. Moreover, we can
see the drastic variation of radial displacement near the sphere’s inner surface, which is probably
Fig. 4b is the variation of electric potential of both numerical and exact results along the radius
of the spherical shell. FEM result matches well with analytical solutions. As well as the variation
d
of displacement shown in Fig. 4a, the electric potential also varies dramatically near the inner
ite
surface. Sudden variation of displacement in the area near inner surface can induce large strain
ed
gradient. Thus remarkable polarization can be generated because of flexoelectricity.
py
Co
ot
tN
rip
sc
nu
Figure 4. Comparison of FEM results with analytical solutions. (a) FEM result and analytical
Ma
solution of radial displacement uρ vs. radius. (b) FEM and analytical result of electric potential φ
ed
vs. radius ρ. All the FEM results are adopted from the nodal DOF on the sphere’s centered line
pt
(x=y =z).
ce
Ac
We also analyze the influence of flexoelectricity on the stiffness of the material. In the following
μC/m, f = 10 μC/m and f = 15 μC/m) and keep all the other material parameters constants.
Fig. 5a shows the variation of the radial displacement vs. the radius for different flexoelectric
coefficients ( f = 0 μC/m, f = 5 μC/m, f = 10 μC/m and f = 15 μC/m). We can see from the
figure that the deformation decreases with the increase of flexoelectric coefficients. It is also
shown that, for different flexoelectric coefficients, the developed element performs excellently
d
by comparing with analytical solutions.
ite
In Fig. 5b, we plot the variation of radial displacement at inner surface vs. inner pressure. It is
ed
shown that, the slope of displacement-pressure curve, which can be defined as the flexibility of
py
the sphere, decreases when the flexoelectric coefficient increases. Thus, we conclude here that
Co
flexoelectricity can influence the stiffness of structure and this may be used to measure
ot
flexoelectric coefficients. tN
rip
sc
nu
Ma
ed
pt
Figure 5. (a) FEM result and analytical solution of radial displacement uρ vs. radius ρ for
ce
5. Application
dielectrics. But flexoelectricity is very weak at the macroscale. A possible solution is to design
nano-sized structures. Via this approach, non-piezoelectric materials can show apparent
d
piezoelectricity. Fig. 6 shows the sketch of material with truncated pyramids microstructure.
ite
ed
py
Co
ot
tN
Figure 6. Sketch of dielectric material with micro pyramid structures
rip
Here we simulate the microstructure subjected to uniform pressure using the developed mixed
sc
element. Since the generated electric potential directly response to the applied pressure, its
nu
piezoelectric modules for different flexoelectric coefficients and size of the micro structure.
ed
pt
ce
Ac
d
ite
ed
py
Figure 7. (a) Schematic of nano pyramid subjected to uniform pressure at top surface. At the
Co
bottom of the model, electric potential and displacement component at height direction are set to
ot
zero. (b) Grid information in simulation. There are 2,800 elements and 151,357 DOFs in total.
tN
Symmetric boundary conditions are used in symmetric surface, (x=0) plane, (y=0) plane.
rip
Fig.7a shows the schematic of the microstructure. The structure is at the scale of hundreds of
sc
nanometers. At the top surface, a uniform pressure of 100 MPa is applied. At the bottom surface,
nu
electric potential and displacement components at height direction are fixed to zero. Fig.7b is the
Ma
FE model for Fig.7a. There are 2800 developed elements and 151,357 DOF in total. Table 2 lists
d
ite
ed
py
Figure 8. (a) Color map of electric potential generated by flexoelectricity. (b) Variation of
Co
electric potential and strain ( ε zz ) vs. height.
ot
Fig. 8a shows the result of electric potential in the structure. We can see there is a potential
tN
difference of several hundreds of millivolts between the bottom and top surface. However, the
rip
in-plane potential differences on both bottom and top surfaces are very small. Thus, the average
sc
electric field in the material can run up to 106 V/m. Fig. 8b shows the variation of electric
nu
potential and strain vs. height along the centre line(x=0 and y=0). As z increases from 0 to about
Ma
170nm, both the absolute values of potential and strain increase accordingly. This is because that
the area of cross section decrease with z. But, when z further increases to about 250nm, the
ed
absolute values of electric potential and strain have a remarkable decrease and reach their
pt
minimums at the vicinity of 250nm. At the corners of z=250nm cross section, there are severe
ce
stress concentration. Because of the stress concentration, the local stress increases at the corners
Ac
but decreases at the centre of z=250nm cross section. Thus, the strain and electric potential,
showed in Fig. 8b, are very small at z=250nm. Overall, a voltage difference can be generated in
response to the applied pressure, just as piezoelectricity. The effective piezoelectric modulus is
defined as following:
| κ E | | κϕ |
=
d eff = (53)
p pH
where, p is the applied pressure on the top surface and E is the average electric field. ϕ is the
average electric potential on the top surface and H is the height of the micro structure. Using Eq.
d
(53), d eff is around several tens of pC/N. Then, we study how would flexoelectric coefficients
ite
and the size of the structure H affect d eff .
ed
py
We first change the flexoelectric coefficients from f1 = f 2 =0.1μC/m to f1 = f 2 =2.0μC/m and with
Co
all other material properties unchanged. Fig. 9a shows the calculation results of d eff vs.
ot
flexoelectric coefficients for different H (H=300nm, 600nm, 900nm, 1200nm and 1500nm).
tN
From Fig. 9a, we can see that, for each size parameter H, the effective piezoelectric modulus d eff
rip
increases linearly with the increase of flexoelectric coefficients. For samples with smaller H, d eff
sc
varies faster with respect to flexoelectric coefficients. Particularly, the effective piezoelectricity
nu
can be 200pC/N/m2 and even larger when flexoelectric coefficients increase to the order of
μC/m. Fig. 9a also shows that the smaller the size of microstructure, the larger d eff can be
Ma
obtained.
ed
pt
ce
Ac
Figure 9. (a) Variation of effective piezoelectric modulus vs. flexoelectric coefficients for
different size of microstructure. (b) Variation of effective piezoelectric modulus vs. the size of
d
To further study how would d eff changes with the sample size. In Fig. 9b, we plot the change of
ite
d eff with respect to H for different flexoelectric coefficients. It has been thought that d eff should
ed
py
increase reciprocally with the decrease of H [33]. So the increase of d eff was expected to be faster
Co
and faster with the decrease of H. But Fig.9b indicates that this trend slows down as the sample
size H is smaller 500nm. Similar phenomenon has been observed in one of our recent theoretical
ot
works for truncated cones [53]. This slow down is probably caused by the effect of strain
tN
gradient elasticity and the influence of flexoelectricity on stiffness. Thus, we conclude here that
rip
for nano sized flexoelectric sample, simplified theoretical model may lead to significant
sc
6. Conclusion
Ma
In this work, we developed a 3D mixed finite element for flexoelectricity incorporating strain
ed
gradient effects. For the developed element, we introduced displacement gradient and
pt
Lagrangian multipliers as additional nodal degrees of freedom. The Lagrangian multipliers are
ce
used to constrain the relationship between displacements and their gradients. Therefore, the forth
order BVP for flexoelectricity is reduced to a second order BVP and the complex C1 continuous
Ac
shape function can be avoided. To validate the developed mixed finite element, we solved the
problem of a flexoelectric spherical shell under inner/outer pressure. The comparison between
numerical and analytical results shows that the developed element performs well in predicting
the deformations of flexoelectric spherical shell for different flexoelectric coefficients and found
that flexoelectricity could increase the stiffness of the structure. Using the developed element, we
also simulated a complex nanostructure contains a truncated pyramid. Our simulation result
d
verified that non-piezoelectric material with certain structures could perform like a piezoelectric
ite
material. Furthermore, we numerically studied the influence of the flexoelectric coefficients and
ed
sample size on the effective piezoelectric modulus. The simulation results demonstrate that
py
increasing the flexoelectric coefficients of the material or decreasing the size of the truncated
Co
pyramid can significantly enhance the effective piezoelectricity of the system. An interesting
finding here is that the dependency of the effective piezoelectricity on the sample size is not
ot
tN
trivial. Keep decreasing the sample size may not always lead to larger effective piezoelectricity.
In order to predict how much effective piezoelectricity we can be obtained by decreasing the
rip
Acknowledgement
Ma
Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants
No. 11372238, 11632014, 11602189 and 11672222) and the Chang Jiang Scholar program. The
ed
support from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2015M580835) and the
pt
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XJJ2016071) was also appreciated.
ce
Ac
Appendix A
Here we present details for the derivation of the governing equations and the boundary
conditions using variational principle. The variational of the total enthalpy can be written as
δ= ∫
Ω
(σ jk δ uk , j + τ ijk δ uk ,ij + Diδϕ,i + G jiδϕ,ij − bk δ uk )dv
(A.1)
−∫ tk δ uk ds + ∫ rk δγ k ds + ∫ qδϕ ds + ∫ ωδθ ds
∂Ωt ∂Ω r ∂Ω q ∂Ωω
d
Ω
(A.2)
∫ (−σ jk , j + τ ijk ,ij − bk )δ uk + ∫ (σ jk − τ ijk ,i )n jδ uk + ∫ (τ ijk ni )δ uk , j
ite
Ω ∂Ω ∂Ω
ed
and
py
∫ Ω
( Diδϕ,i + G jiδϕ,ij )dv =
(A.3)
∫ (− Di ,i + Gij ,ij )dv + ∫ ( Di − Gij , j )niδϕ ds + ∫ Gij n jδϕ,i ds
Co
Ω ∂Ω ∂Ω
As pointed out in [54], variational of the gradient of electric potential and displacement are not
independent, thus we rewrite the last term of Eq. (A.2) and Eq. (A.3) as
ot
tN
∫∂Ω
(τ=
ijk ni )δ uk , j ∫ τ n n jδ (uk ,m nm )ds + ∫ τ ijk niδ (∇tj uk )ds
∂Ω ijk i ∂Ω
(A.4)
rip
∫∂Ω ij n jδϕ,i ds
G= ∫ ∂Ω
Gij n j niδ (ϕ,m nm )ds + ∫ Gij n jδ (∇tiϕ )ds
∂Ω
(A.5)
sc
Using Stokes theorem, the second integral in right hand of Eqs (A.4) and (A.5) can be
nu
respectively written as
Ma
∫ ∂Ω
(τ=
ijk ni )δ uk , j ∫ τ n n jδ (uk ,m nm )ds + ∫ τ ijk niδ (∇tj uk )ds
∂Ω ijk i ∂Ω
(A.6)
ed
∫ ∂Ω ij n jδϕ,i ds
G= ∫ ∂Ω
Gij n j niδ (ϕ,m nm )ds + ∫ Gij n jδ (∇tiϕ )ds
∂Ω
(A.7)
pt
Ω Ω
governing equations
σ jk , j − τ ijk ,ij + bk =
0 (A.9)
and
d
Di ,i − Gij ,ij =
ite
0 (A.10)
ed
The boundary conditions can also be obtained as Eqs. (6-13).
py
Appendix B
Co
In this Appendix, we give the detail for solving Eqs. (29) and (30).
ot
f du 2u
∇ 2ϕ − ∇2 ( + )=0 (B.1)
κ dρ ρ
tN
2l02 2u ( ρ )
rip
(1 − l02 L) Lu =
0 (B.3)
Ma
d2 2 d 2
where, L= + − 2 is a differential operator. The general solution of Eq. (B.3) can be
dρ 2
ρ dρ ρ
ed
Lu = 0 (B.4)
ce
(1 − l02 L)u =
u0 (B.5)
Ac
where, u0 is the general solution of Eq. (B.4). Eq. (B.4) is an Euler equation and its general
C2
ρ ) C1 ρ +
u0 (= (B.6)
ρ2
where C1 and C2 are constants to be determined. Eq. (B.5) is an inhomogeneous equation and its
solution obtained by cooperating one of its particular solution and the general solution of its
homogeneous part. Also, we find that u0 is one of the particular solutions of Eq. (B.5). Thus, we
just need to find the general solution of the following homogeneous equation.
d
ite
2l02
(1 − l02∇ 2 − )u =0 (B.7)
ρ2
ed
To obtain the general solution of Eq. (B.7), we let
py
ρ = l0 x (B.8)
Co
1
u(ρ ) = y ( x) (B.9)
2x
2
dx dx 4
sc
=
y ( x) A1 I 3 2 ( x) + A2 K 3 2 ( x)
nu
(B.11)
where, A1 and A2 are two constants to be determined. I3/2 and K3/2 are 3/2th order modified
Ma
Bessel functions of the first and second kind respectively. Using Eqs. (B.8) and (B.9), the general
ed
C3 ρ C ρ
u1 ( ρ )
= I3 2 ( ) + 4 K3 2 ( ) (B.12)
ρ l0 ρ l0
ce
Ac
where
1 1
C3 = A1 , C4 = A2 (B.13)
2l0 2l0
C2 C3 ρ C ρ
u ( ρ ) = C1 ρ + + I3 2 ( ) + 4 K3 2 ( ) (B.14)
ρ 2
ρ l0 ρ l0
f du 2u
ζ (ρ ) =
ϕ− ( + ) (B.15)
κ dρ ρ
d
ite
Then Eq. (B.1) can be written as
ed
∇ 2ζ =
0 (B.16)
py
and the general solution of Eq. (B.16) can be obtained easily as
Co
C6
ζ ( ρ=
) C5 + (B.17)
ρ
ot
Therefore, the general solution of Eq. (B.1) is tN
f du 2u C
ϕ (=
ρ) ( + ) + C5 + 6 (B.18)
κ dρ ρ ρ
rip
sc
References
nu
[1] Sharma, N., Maranganti, R., and Sharma, P., 2007, "On the possibility of piezoelectric
nanocomposites without using piezoelectric materials," J Mech Phys Solids, 55(11), pp. 2328-2350.
Ma
[2] Nanthakumar, S., Lahmer, T., Zhuang, X., Zi, G., and Rabczuk, T., 2016, "Detection of material
interfaces using a regularized level set method in piezoelectric structures," Inverse Probl Sci Eng, 24(1),
pp. 153-176.
[3] Nanthakumar, S., Lahmer, T., and Rabczuk, T., 2014, "Detection of multiple flaws in piezoelectric
ed
structures using XFEM and level sets," Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 275, pp. 98-112.
[4] Anton, S. R., and Sodano, H. A., 2007, "A review of power harvesting using piezoelectric materials
pt
[10] Zubko, P., Catalan, G., Buckley, A., Welche, P., and Scott, J., 2007, "Strain-gradient-induced
polarization in SrTiO 3 single crystals," Phys Rev Lett, 99(16), p. 167601.
[11] Ma, W., and Cross, L. E., 2006, "Flexoelectricity of barium titanate," Appl Phys Lett, 88(23), p.
232902.
[12] Tagantsev, A., 1986, "Piezoelectricity and flexoelectricity in crystalline dielectrics," Phys Rev B, 34(8),
p. 5883.
[13] Shu, L., Wei, X., Jin, L., Li, Y., Wang, H., and Yao, X., 2013, "Enhanced direct flexoelectricity in
paraelectric phase of Ba (Ti0. 87Sn0. 13) O3 ceramics," Appl Phys Lett, 102(15), p. 152904.
d
[14] Narvaez, J., and Catalan, G., 2014, "Origin of the enhanced flexoelectricity of relaxor ferroelectrics,"
ite
Appl Phys Lett, 104(16), p. 162903.
[15] Prost, J., and Pershan, P. S., 1976, "Flexoelectricity in nematic and smectic‐A liquid crystals," J Appl
Phys, 47(6), pp. 2298-2312.
ed
[16] Čepič, M., and Žekš, B., 2001, "Flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity: the reason for the rich variety of
phases in antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystals," Phys Rev Lett, 87(8), p. 085501.
py
[17] Varanytsia, A., and Chien, L.-C., 2017, "Giant Flexoelectro-optic Effect with Liquid Crystal Dimer
CB7CB," Sci Rep, 7, p. 41333.
Co
[18] Chu, B., and Salem, D., 2012, "Flexoelectricity in several thermoplastic and thermosetting
polymers," Appl Phys Lett, 101(10), p. 103905.
[19] Lu, J., Lv, J., Liang, X., Xu, M., and Shen, S., 2016, "Improved approach to measure the direct
ot
flexoelectric coefficient of bulk polyvinylidene fluoride," J Appl Phys, 119(9), p. 094104.
[20] Petrov, A. G., 2002, "Flexoelectricity of model and living membranes," BBA-Biomembranes, 1561(1),
tN
pp. 1-25.
[21] Petrov, A. G., 2006, "Electricity and mechanics of biomembrane systems: flexoelectricity in living
membranes," Anal Chim Acta, 568(1), pp. 70-83.
rip
[22] Ping-Cheng, Z., Keleshian, A. M., and Sachs, F., 2001, "Voltage-induced membrane movement,"
Nature, 413(6854), p. 428.
sc
[23] Krichen, S., and Sharma, P., 2016, "Flexoelectricity: A Perspective on an Unusual Electromechanical
Coupling," J Appl Mech, 83(3), pp. 030801-030801-030805.
[24] Tagantsev, A., 1985, "Theory of flexoelectric effect in crystals," JETP Lett, 88(6), pp. 2108-2122.
nu
[25] Majdoub, M., Sharma, P., and Cagin, T., 2008, "Enhanced size-dependent piezoelectricity and
elasticity in nanostructures due to the flexoelectric effect," Phys Rev B, 77(12), p. 125424.
Ma
[26] Maranganti, R., Sharma, N., and Sharma, P., 2006, "Electromechanical coupling in nonpiezoelectric
materials due to nanoscale nonlocal size effects: Green’s function solutions and embedded inclusions,"
Phys Rev B, 74(1), p. 014110.
ed
[27] Shen, S., and Hu, S., 2010, "A theory of flexoelectricity with surface effect for elastic dielectrics," J
Mech Phys Solids, 58(5), pp. 665-677.
[28] Deng, Q., Liu, L., and Sharma, P., 2014, "Flexoelectricity in soft materials and biological
pt
[34] Zhu, W., Fu, J. Y., Li, N., and Cross, L., 2006, "Piezoelectric composite based on the enhanced
flexoelectric effects," Appl Phys Lett, 89(19), p. 192904.
[35] Harden, J., Mbanga, B., Éber, N., Fodor-Csorba, K., Sprunt, S., Gleeson, J. T., and Jakli, A., 2006,
"Giant flexoelectricity of bent-core nematic liquid crystals," Phys Rev Lett, 97(15), p. 157802.
[36] Lu, H., Bark, C.-W., De Los Ojos, D. E., Alcala, J., Eom, C.-B., Catalan, G., and Gruverman, A., 2012,
"Mechanical writing of ferroelectric polarization," Science, 336(6077), pp. 59-61.
[37] Lee, D., Yang, S. M., Yoon, J.-G., and Noh, T. W., 2012, "Flexoelectric rectification of charge
transport in strain-graded dielectrics," Nano Lett, 12(12), pp. 6436-6440.
d
[38] Kim, M., Ham, H. G., Choi, H.-S., Bos, P. J., Yang, D.-K., Lee, J. H., and Lee, S. H., 2017, "Flexoelectric
ite
in-plane switching (IPS) mode with ultra-high-transmittance, low-voltage, low-frequency, and a flicker-
free image," Opt Express, 25(6), pp. 5962-5971.
[39] Ahluwalia, R., Tagantsev, A. K., Yudin, P., Setter, N., Ng, N., and Srolovitz, D. J., 2014, "Influence of
ed
flexoelectric coupling on domain patterns in ferroelectrics," Phys Rev B, 89(17), p. 174105.
[40] Chen, H., Soh, A., and Ni, Y., 2014, "Phase field modeling of flexoelectric effects in ferroelectric
py
epitaxial thin films," Acta Mech, 225(4-5), p. 1323.
[41] Chen, W., Zheng, Y., Feng, X., and Wang, B., 2015, "Utilizing mechanical loads and flexoelectricity to
Co
induce and control complicated evolution of domain patterns in ferroelectric nanofilms," J Mech Phys
Solids, 79, pp. 108-133.
[42] Abdollahi, A., Peco, C., Millán, D., Arroyo, M., and Arias, I., 2014, "Computational evaluation of the
ot
flexoelectric effect in dielectric solids," J Appl Phys, 116(9), p. 093502.
[43] Abdollahi, A., Millán, D., Peco, C., Arroyo, M., and Arias, I., 2015, "Revisiting pyramid compression to
tN
quantify flexoelectricity: A three-dimensional simulation study," Phys Rev B, 91(10), p. 104103.
[44] Yvonnet, J., and Liu, L., 2017, "A numerical framework for modeling flexoelectricity and Maxwell
stress in soft dielectrics at finite strains," Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 313, pp. 450-482.
rip
[45] Xia, Z. C., and Hutchinson, J. W., 1996, "Crack tip fields in strain gradient plasticity," J Mech Phys
Solids, 44(10), pp. 1621-1648.
[46] Shu, J., and Fleck, N., 1998, "The prediction of a size effect in microindentation," Int J Solids Struct,
sc
elasticity problems," Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 191(15), pp. 1723-1751.
[49] Darrall, B. T., Hadjesfandiari, A. R., and Dargush, G. F., 2015, "Size-dependent piezoelectricity: A 2D
finite element formulation for electric field-mean curvature coupling in dielectrics," Eur J Mech A Solids,
ed
[51] Ghasemi, H., Park, H. S., and Rabczuk, T., 2017, "A level-set based IGA formulation for topology
optimization of flexoelectric materials," Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 313, pp. 239-258.
ce
[52] Nanthakumar, S., Zhuang, X., Park, H. S., and Rabczuk, T., 2017, "Topology optimization of
flexoelectric structures," J Mech Phys Solids, 105, pp. 217-234.
Ac
[53] Deng, Q., 2017, "Size-Dependent Flexoelectric Response of a Truncated Cone and the Consequent
Ramifications for the Experimental Measurement of Flexoelectric Properties," J Appl Mech, 84(10), p.
101007.
[54] Hu, S., and Shen, S., 2010, "Variational principles and governing equations in nano-dielectrics with
the flexoelectric effect," Sci China Phys Mech, 53(8), pp. 1497-1504.