The flexoelectric effect is a coupling of polarization and strain gradient, which exists in a wide variety of materials and may lead to strong size-dependent properties at the nanoscale. Based on an extension to the classical beam model, this paper investigates the electromechanical coupling response of piezoelectric nanobeams with different electrical boundary conditions including the effect of flexoelectricity. The electric Gibbs free energy and the variational principle are used to derive the governing equations with three types of electrical boundary conditions. Closed-form solutions are obtained for static bending of cantilever beams. The results show that the normalized effective stiffness increases with decreasing beam thickness in the open circuit electrical boundary conditions with or without surface electrodes. The induced electric potential due to the flexoelectric effect is obtained under the open circuit conditions, which may be important for sensing or energy harvesting applications. An intrinsic thickness depending on the material properties is identified for the maximum induced electric potential. The present results also show that flexoelectricity has a more significant effect on the electroelastic responses than piezoelectricity at the nanoscale. Our analysis in the present study can be useful for understanding of the electromechanical coupling in nanobeams with flexoelectricity.

Abstract. Within robot systems the use of flexible links could solve many issues raised by their rigid counterparts. However, when these flexible links are integrated within systems which include moving parts their main issue lies in the vibrations experienced along their length due to disturbances. Much research effort has been made to solve this issue, with particular attention being paid to the application of piezoelectric patches as actuators within active vibration control (AVC). The study will consist of accurate models of a flexible link and two surface bonded piezoelectric patches, where the link and the piezoelectric patches will be modelled through the use of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory (EBT). The link will be subject to an initial displacement at its free end, and the resulting displacement of this end of the beam is to be controlled using a classic proportional-differential (PD) controller. The voltages to be applied across each of the actuators is to be controlled in accordance with the displacement of the free end of the beam, the actuators will then induce a strain upon the link opposing the movement of the tip. This research outlines this general method, obtains the best location of the piezoelectric patches and the control gains to be used, and proves that the method can be used to attenuate the vibrations experienced by a flexible link.