On the Electromechanical Response of Electrically Active Materials

A continuum model is proposed to characterize the macroscopic behavior of ferroelectric materials undergoing an electrically-induced phase transformation. Within the framework of electromechanics, the author has investigated the feasibility of adjusting stresses within a ferroelectric device by applying an electric field to induce the paraelectric-ferroelectric transformation. The present analysis shows that the rate at which the stress can be adjusted is governed by a nonlinear ordinary differential equation which resulted from the kinetic relation that controls the evolution of the electrically-induced phase transformation. The present model, implemented with a numerical scheme, is able to predict the relation between the stress rate and the rate at which the electric field is applied. Some numerical results are included for illustration.