Maximizing the electromomentum coupling in piezoelectric laminates

TL;DR

This paper explores how to significantly enhance electromomentum coupling in piezoelectric laminates through optimization techniques, enabling advanced wave control applications in metamaterials.

Contribution

It introduces topology and material optimization methods to maximize electromomentum coupling in piezoelectric composites, providing design guidelines for metamaterials.

Findings

Coupling can be increased by orders of magnitude through optimization.

Optimal compositions serve as design guidelines for metamaterials.

Enhanced electromomentum coupling enables new wave control applications.

Abstract

Asymmetric piezoelectric composites exhibit coupling between their macroscopic linear momentum and electric field, a coupling that does not appear at the microscopic scale. This electromomentum coupling constitutes an additional knob to tailor the dynamic response of the medium, analogously to the Willis coupling in elastic composites. Here, we employ topology- and free material optimization approaches to maximize the electromomentum coupling of periodic piezoelectric laminates in the low frequency, long-wavelength limit. We find that the coupling can be enhanced by orders of magnitude, depending on the degrees of freedom in the optimization process. The optimal compositions that we find provide guidelines for the design of metamaterials with maximum electromomentum coupling, paving the way for their integration in wave control applications.