Material properties of piezoelectric composites by BEM and homogenization method

Applications of boundary element method (BEM) to piezoelectric composites in conjunction with homogenization approach for determining their effective material properties are discussed in this paper. The composites considered here consist of inclusion and matrix phases. The homogenization model for composites with inhomogeneities is developed and introduced into a BE formulation to provide an effective means for estimating overall material constants of two-phase composites. In this model, a representative volume element (RVE) is used whose volume average stress and strain are calculated by the boundary tractions and displacements of the RVE. Thus BEM is suitable for performing calculations on average stress and strain fields of the composites. Numerical results for a piezoelectric plate with circular inclusions are presented to illustrate the application of the proposed micromechanics––BE formulation.