Thermal analogy method for static and dynamic analysis of an electrostrictive beam

A thermal analogy method for the static and dynamic analysis of an electrostrictive beam by incorporating the nonlinear characteristics of the electrostrictive materials is described in this paper. The analogy between thermo elastic finite element formulation and the electrostrictive material finite element formulation developed in this paper was explored. Based on this analogy, the voltage actuation of the electrostrictive beam can be simulated accurately using the conventional elastic finite element model with the thermal actuation. The finite element model includes the quadratic dependence of strain with electric field, valid at constant temperature and mechanical prestress, and excludes hysteresis. © 2009 VSP.