A variational principle and finite element analysis for thermo- polarization gradient theory (Q2277062)

In this application the general variational functional is specialized and used as the basis to derive a set of four finite element equations for coupled time-dependent thermo-polarization gradient theory in terms of displacement vector, polarization vector, electric potential and temperature. The analysis is further specialized to consider only steady state temperature distributions and in that case the temperature dependence is uncoupled from the remaining variables. A nine node axisymmetric finite element with six degrees of freedom per node was used for all computations. The derivation of the element is discussed in detail by the authors [ibid. 5, No.6, 447-458 (1990; Zbl 0712.73109)] and specific details will be omitted in this report. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the behavior of the radial component of polarization with and without a temperature gradient. In addition, some results can be obtained concerning the effect of surface curvature on the polarization. Surface energy is a direct function of the normal component of polarization and while specific results for surface energy have not been computed the results for polarization infer the behavior of surface energy.