Zonal Free Element Method And Its Application In Functionally Graded Pieozelectric Structures

A novel strong-form formulation named the zonal free element method (ZFREM) is brought up to analyze functionally gradient piezoelectric material (PFGM) and dealing with the corner point problem which is difficult in most strong-form mesh-free methods. The essential point of the presented method is that after dividing the model to be solved into several zones, the system of equations can be directly generated using the collocation element. The proposed method has strong adaptability with complicated problem geometry owing to the partition of the model and mapping technique. Besides, a unified solution scheme is set up for the electro-elastic coupling problems through the proposed technique. At last, two numerical examples are illustrated to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the presented method.