Mechanics of Advanced Functional Materials

Mechanics of Advanced Functional Materials emphasizes the coupling effect between the electric and mechanical field in the piezoelectric, ferroelectric and other functional materials. It also discusses the size effect on the ferroelectric domain instability and phase transition behaviors using the continuum micro-structural evolution models. Functional materials usually have a very wide application in engineering due to their unique thermal, electric, magnetic, optoelectronic, etc., functions. Almost all the applications demand that the material should have reasonable stiffness, strength, fracture toughness and the other mechanical properties. Furthermore, usually the stress and strain fields on the functional materials and devices have some important coupling effect on the functionality of the materials. Much progress has been made concerning the coupling electric and mechanical behaviors such as the coupled electric and stress field distribution in piezoelectric solids, ferroelectric domain patterns in ferroelectrics, fracture and failure properties under coupled electric and stress field, etc. The book is intended for researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of mechanics, materials sciences and applied physics who are interested to work on the interdisciplinary mathematical modeling of the functional materials. Prof. Biao Wang is the Dean of School of Physics and Engineering of the Sun Yat-sen University, China.