Mechanical-electric-magnetic-thermal coupled enriched finite element method for magneto-electro-elastic structures

Abstract Magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) materials possess the ability to convert mechanical, electrical, and magnetic energies, playing a critical role in smart devices. To improve the accuracy and efficiency of solving the mechanical properties of MEE structures in mechanical-electrical-magnetic-thermal (MEMT) environments, an MEMT coupled multiphysics enriched finite element method (MP-EFEM) is proposed. Based on the fundamental equations and boundary conditions of MEE materials, the interpolation coverage function is introduced into the MEMT coupled finite element method (FEM) to construct higher-order approximate interpolation displacement shape functions, electric potential shape functions, and magnetic potential shape functions. Combined with the variational principle, MP-EFEM is proposed, and the governing equations of MP-EFEM are derived. Numerical examples validate the accuracy and high efficiency of MP-EFEM in solving the mechanical properties of MEE structures in MEMT environments. When compared to the MEMT coupled FEM (MEMT-FEM), the results show that this method offers higher accuracy and efficiency. Therefore, MP-EFEM can effectively analyze the mechanical properties of MEE structures under multiphysics coupling, providing a new method for the design and development of smart devices.