An exact solution for the three-phase thermo-electro-magneto-elastic cylinder model and its application to piezoelectric-magnetic fiber composites

Abstract

A three-phase cylindrical model for analyzing fiber composite subject to in-plane mechanical load under the coupling effects of multiple physical fields (thermo, electric, magnetic and elastic) is presented. By introducing an eigenstrain corresponding to the thermo-electro-magnetic-elastic effect, the complex multi-field coupling problem can be reduced to a formal in-plane elasticity problem for which an exact closed form solution is available. The present three-phase model can be applied to fiber/interphase/matrix composites, such that a lot of interesting thermo-electro-magnetism and stress coupling phenomena induced by the interphase layer are revealed. The present model can also be applied to fiber/matrix composites, in terms of which a generalized self-consistent method (GSCM) is developed for predicting the effective properties of piezoelectric-magnetic fiber reinforced composites. The effective piezoelectric, piezomagnetic, thermoelectric and magnetoelectric moduli can be expressed in compact explicit formulae for direct references and applications. A comparison of the predictions by the GSCM with available experimental data is presented, and interesting magnification effects and peculiar product properties are discussed. As a theoretical basis for the GSCM, the equivalence of the three sets of different average field equations in predicting the effective properties are proved, and this fact provides a strong evidence of mathematical rigor and physical realism in the formulation. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.