Analytical predictions for the magnetoelectric coupling in piezomagnetic materials reinforced by piezoelectric ellipsoidal inclusions

In this paper, a number of problems of fundamental importance in a piezoelectric-piezomagnetic composite material are solved. The problems covered range from the derivation of the analytical expressions for the magneto-electro-elastic Eshelby tensors to the analysis of the magnetoelectric coupling effect which is a new property exhibited in the piezoelectric-piezomagnetic composite. Zn particular, when both the matrix and the inclusions of the composite are transversely isotropic with different magneto-electro-elastic moduli, and shapes of inclusions are of elliptic cylinder, circular cylinder, disk, and ribbon, closed-form solutions for the magnetoelectric coupling coefficients are presented compactly. The resulting solutions are a function of the shape of inclusion, phase properties, and volume fraction of the inclusions. These results could provide us with insight into how a piezoelectric-piezomagnetic composite material consisting of inclusions will perform and would be helpful in understanding the magneto-electric-elastic behavior of the composite. [S0163-1829(98)07825-4].