Propagation of the fundamental Lamb modes in strain stiffened hard-magnetic soft plates

This study focuses on investigating hard magnetic soft materials, characterized by magneto-active polymers containing magnetically polarized particles as fillers. The research utilizes the Gent model of hyperelasticity to analyze the propagation of Lamb waves in a magnetically induced deformed compressible plate. In this investigation we explore both finite deformations and incremental wave propagation in nonlinear hard-magnetic soft materials. The main objective is to formulate the elastic tensor and relevant wave equations within the framework of Lagrangian space. To assess the dispersion characteristics of the guided wave, the study introduces and discusses an extension of the Semi Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) method. Using this numerical approach, the research further examines the effects of magnetic flux densities and its orientation with respect to wave propagation direction on the dispersion characteristics of the fundamental Lamb modes. The study starts by examining the limiting case of the neo-Hookean material model to explain such inherent dependencies. These dependencies are then further emphasized by including the strain-stiffening effect that the Gent material model describes. The research findings reveal the presence of a threshold applied magnetic flux, beyond which the Gent-type material may undergo a snap-through instability, resulting in changes in the dispersion characteristics of the fundamental symmetric Lamb mode.