Applied Mechanics Commons^™

Effect Of The Nonlinear Material Viscosity On The Performance Of Dielectric Elastomer Transducers, Yuanping Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As a typical type of soft electroactive materials, dielectric elastomers (DEs) are capable of producing large voltage-induced deformation, which makes them desirable materials for a variety of applications in transduction technology, including tunable oscillators, resonators, biomimetics and energy harvesters. The dynamic and energy harvesting performance of such DE-based devices is strongly affected not only by multiple failure modes such as electrical breakdown, electromechanical instability, loss-of-tension and fatigue, but also by their material viscoelasticity. Moreover, as suggested by experiments and theoretical studies, DEs possess nonlinear relaxation processes, which makes modeling of the performance of DE-based devices more challenging.

In this thesis, …

Structural Response Analyses Of Piezoelectric Composites Using Nurbs, Vijairaj Raj

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Variational method deduced on the basis of the minimum potential energy is an efficient method to find solutions for complex engineering problems. In structural mechanics, the potential energy comprises strain energy, kinetic energy and the work done by external actions. To obtain these, the displacement are required as a priori. This research is concerned with the development of a numerical method based on variational principles to analyze piezoelectric composite plates and solids. A Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) function is used for describing both the geometry and electromechanical displacement fields. Two dimensional plate models are formulated according to the first order …

Characterization Of Solar Roadways Via Computational And Experimental Investigations, Rajesh Kanna Selvaraju

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Efficiency of traditional solar panels is known to be very low and hence necessitates the use of extensive open spaces for producing solar-based electric power. In solar roadways concept, open spaces such as roads, parking lots, bicycle lanes, footpaths are proposed to be utilized. An in-depth quantitative feasibility study for implementing solar roadways in Canada is carried out considering the total available surfaces, solar panel efficiency and effects of fast moving shades. The load carrying capability of commercially available materials for the solar panel top cover is studied in an effort to examine the current as well as near-future implementation …