The optimized fiber volume fraction for magnetoelectric coupling effect in piezoelectric-piezomagnetic continuous fiber reinforced composites

Explicit formulae are presented to assess the optimized fiber volume fraction for maximum magnetoelectric coupling effect exhibiting in the composite with piezomagnetic matrix reinforced by piezoelectric continuous fibers. The formulae consist of the analytical expressions for the effective properties of the composite and the magneto-electro-elastic Eshelby tensors. With these expressions, the closed-form solution for the magnetoelectric coupling effect, which is st new property existing in the piezoelectric-piezomagnetic composite even though neither of the individual phases exhibits such a property, is acquired. Furthermore, by taking the derivative of the close form for magnetoelectric coupling effect with respect to the fiber volume fraction as zero yields the optimized volume fraction of fibers analytically. The optimized fiber volume fraction shows that it is a function of the elastic properties of constituents, but not a function of the magnetic and electric properties. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.