Flexoelectricity theories and modeling in ceramics

Abstract

Electromechanical devices have played a vital role in modern engineering for sensors, actuation, energy harvesting, transducers, caloric, catalysis, and many more. Flexoelectricity represents an electromechanical coupling among the strain gradient and electric polarization and has demonstrated great ability for future micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (M-/NEMS). The recent computational efforts substantially improved our understanding of the effect of flexoelectricity are discussed in this chapter. The theoretical development and progress in flexoelectricity are presented, containing microscopic and macroscopic treatments at micro, macro, meso, and atomic scales. The electromechanical behavior of basic building blocks based on different theories considering flexoelectric effects is studied. In this regard, an overview of the mathematical framework for modeling flexoelectricity is provided, wherein the governing equations and edge support conditions are derived using the variational/Hamilton's principle. The outcome explored enhancement in the electromechanical response of structures considering flexoelectricity, which cannot be disregarded at the nanoscale. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.