On the static analysis of inhomogeneous magneto-electro-elastic plates in thermal environment via element-free Galerkin method

The inhomogeneous magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) coupling element-free Galerkin method (IMC-EFGM) is proposed for solving static behaviors of MEE structures. Plates made of homogeneous or inhomogeneous MEE materials are analyzed by IMC-EFGM, and the mechanical behaviors in different temperature fields are simulated. Displacement, magnetic potential and electric potential are studied using moving least squares (MLS) approximation. For inhomogeneous MEE materials, the constitutive equation in the MEE-thermal environment is first obtained by using Gibbs energy, and then used together with the Hamiltonian principle to determine the system governing equation. Since the MLS approximation does not satisfy the principle of Kronecker delta, the penalty function method is used to impose the natural boundary. The value of material properties at the point of integration is taken into account when calculating inhomogeneous materials. Compared with the analytical solution and finite element method (FEM), IMC-EFGM is straightforward and has greater precision than FEM. Some numerical examples are shown for the static FG-MEE plate with different hole shapes. Homogeneous MEE materials and inhomogeneous MEE materials are mainly used in intelligent structures and have good application perspectives. This research will promote the future use of inhomogeneous MEE materials.