Electro-thermo-mechanical analysis of actuator structure made of functionally graded material.

Abstract

The paper deals with a new approach in analyzing of the actuator systems made of Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) using our new beam finite elements. Weak coupled electro-thermomechanical analysis and spatial continuous variation of material properties are considered for chosen actuator structure. This electrically driven actuator is simple-shaped due to properly chosen variation of material properties to ensure functionality of the actuator at material and physical level instead of the geometric shape level. The solution results will be compared with those obtained by using solid elements of a FEM commercial program.

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