Abstract：Abstract：Flexoelectric effect, which is induced by inhomogeneous strain (or strain gradient), is a size-dependent electromechanical coupling effect. Based on the Kirchhoff plate hypothesis and the theory of flexoelectricity, the differential governing equations of the piezoelectric thin plates under temperature and voltage are derived. The influence of nonlinear terms in governing equations is quantitatively analyzed. For clamped piezoelectric nanoplates, the governing equations are solved by adopting Ritz’s method, and the bending and vibration behaviors of the piezoelectric nanoplates are numerically investigated. To study the influence of temperature and flexoelectricity on the coupling characteristics and mechanical behavior of thin nanoplates, we consider the material coefficients of the piezoelectric nanoplates being independent on temperature and linearly dependent on temperature, respectively. For case studies, we choose PZT-5H as the structural material and investigate the influence of flexoelectricity and temperature on the transverse displacement and resonant frequency of the nanoplates. Results show that flexoelectric effect has a significant influence on the mechanical behavior of piezoelectric nanoplates and is size-dependent. In addition, the thin nanoplate is sensitive to the temperature change. Therefore, we can utilize flexoelectricity and temperature to tune the multi-field coupling characteristics and mechanical behavior of piezoelectric nanoplates , in this way，the performance of piezoelectric nanoplate based electronic devices such as sensors and actuators in NEMS/MEMS could be optimized.
2020, Vol. 41 
