Media type: Text; E-Article Title: Characterizing flexoelectricity in composite material using the element-free Galerkin method Contributor: He, Bo [Author]; Javvaji, Brahmanandam [Author]; Zhuang, Xiaoying [Author] imprint: Basel : MDPI AG, 2019 Published in: Energies 12 (2019), Nr. 2 Issue: published Version Language: English DOI: https://doi.org/10.15488/9821; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12020271 ISSN: 1996-1073 Keywords: Level set technique ; Electromechanical coupling ; Mesh-less methods ; Size effect ; Meshless method ; Composite ; Piezoelectric composite materials ; Numerical methods ; Size effects ; Electric polarization ; Flexoelectricity ; Computational mechanics ; Element free Galerkin methods ; Composite materials ; Galerkin methods ; Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) ; Level-set techniques Origination: Footnote: Diese Datenquelle enthält auch Bestandsnachweise, die nicht zu einem Volltext führen. Description: This study employs the Element-Free Galerkin method (EFG) to characterize flexoelectricity in a composite material. The presence of the strain gradient term in the Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) requires C 1 continuity to describe the electromechanical coupling. The use of quartic weight functions in the developed model fulfills this prerequisite. We report the generation of electric polarization in a non-piezoelectric composite material through the inclusion-induced strain gradient field. The level set technique associated with the model supervises the weak discontinuity between the inclusion and matrix. The increased area ratio between the inclusion and matrix is found to improve the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy. The electromechanical coupling is enhanced when using softer materials for the embedding inclusions. © 2019 by the authors. Access State: Open Access Rights information: Attribution (CC BY)