Wave propagation in non-homogeneous magneto-electro-elastic plates

A dynamic solution is presented for the propagation of harmonic waves in imhomogeneous (functionally graded) magneto-electro-elastic plates composed of piezoelectric BaTiO3 and magnetostrictive CoFe2O4. The materials properties are assumed to vary in the direction of the thickness according to a known variation law. The Legendre orthogonal polynomial series expansion approach is employed to determine the wave propagating characteristics in the plates. The dispersion curves of the imhomogeneous piezoelectric–piezomagnetic plate and the corresponding non-piezoelectric, non-piezomagnetic plates are calculated to show the influences of the piezoelectricity and piezomagnetism on the dispersion curves. They are compared with the dispersion curves of the plates with the different magnetic constants to illustrate the influential factors of the piezoelectric and piezomagnetic effect for the wave propagation in a magneto-electro-elastic plate. Electric potential and magnetic potential distributions at different wavenumbers are also obtained to illustrate the different influences of the piezoelectricity and piezomagnetism.