Magnetoelectricity in coated fibrous composites of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases

Abstract

This paper studies the effective magnetoelectric (ME) behavior of coated fibrous composites made of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases. We employ a micromechancial model, the two-level recursive scheme together with the Mori-Tanaka method, to evaluate the ME effect of the composites. The magnitudes and trends of the solutions are in good agreement with the calculations by the finite element analysis. Based on this model, we find the optimal volume fractions of the inclusion, the ratio of the radii between the core and shell for maximum ME coupling. Further, we correlate the ME effect with the material parameters of the constituent phases and propose useful engineering guide to the development of new ME coated fibrous composites. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.