FEM analysis of electro-mechanical coupling effect of piezoelectric materials

Based on the mechanical and electrical equilibrium equations of piezoelectric materials, the minimum potential theory is presented by using the virtual work principle in this paper. A finite element method (FEM) formulation accounting for the electro-mechanical coupling effect of piezoelectric materials is given. Some problems in the numerical simulation are discussed and the extreme illness of the stiffness matrix is overcome by the dimension changing method. As a simple application, the response of an elliptical cavity in infinite media of piezoelectric materials is analyzed. Such a geometry leads to stress and electric field concentrations.