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Crystals
Special Issues
Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling
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Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2024 | Viewed by 7559

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gongye Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Interests: higher-order continuum theories; couple stress theory; microstructure effect; elastic wave propagation; band gaps; flexoelectricity; magneto-electro-elastic materials; metamaterials; smart composite structures
Prof. Dr. Shuitao Gu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Interests: interface mechanics; micromechanics; XFEM; multiscale method; magneto-electro-elastic composites; smart composite structures; crack mechanics
Dr. Shuohui Yin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
Interests: isogeometric analysis; higher-order continuum theories; composite structures; fracture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thin structures widely used in electro-mechanical devices and structural components have been experimentally observed to exhibit size effects at the micron and nanometer scales, which cannot be interpreted using classical theories. Hence, higher-order (non-classical) theories need to be applied to develop new size-dependent models for thin elastic/dielectric/piezoelectric/piezomagnetic/magnetoelectric structures. The relevant variational formulations, numerical approaches and applications have attracted many researchers. The aim of this Special Issue is to cover the recent theoretical and numerical studies in novel size-dependent thin structure models, ranging from isotropic elastic materials to all types of crystalline solids. Applications to corresponding bending, buckling, vibration, elastic wave propagation and other engineering problems are also included in this Special Issue.

Potential topics welcome in this Special Issue include but are not limited to:

  • Microstructure-dependent thin structures;
  • Surface energy-dependent thin structures;
  • Flexoelectric thin structures;
  • Piezoelectric/piezomagnetic/magnetoelectric thin structures;
  • Size-dependent functionally graded  thin structures;
  • Isogeometric analysis of size-dependent thin structures;
  • Elastic wave propagation in thin structures;
  • Tunable bandgaps in phononic crystal thin structures;
  • Microstructure/microtexture friction/contact;
  • Magnetofluid modelling and applications;
  • Rock-like materials modelling and simulations.

Dr. Gongye Zhang
Prof. Dr. Shuitao Gu
Dr. Shuohui Yin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • couple stress theories
  • strain gradient theories
  • surface elasticity theories
  • flexoelectricity theories
  • isogeometric analysis
  • beam theories
  • plate theories
  • functionally graded materials
  • wave propagation
  • band gaps
  • materials modelling

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3772 KiB  
Article
Effect of Cu2Te Back Surface Interfacial Layer on Cadmium Telluride Thin Film Solar Cell Performance from Numerical Analysis
by Muhammad Najib Harif, Camellia Doroody, Allina Nadzri, Hasrul Nisham Rosly, Nur Irwany Ahmad, Mustapha Isah and Nowshad Amin
Crystals 2023, 13(5), 848; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13050848 - 20 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1478
Abstract
Even though substantial advances made in the device configuration of the frontal layers of the superstrate cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell device have contributed to conversion efficiency, unresolved challenges remain in regard to controlling the self-compensation and minority carrier recombination at the back [...] Read more.
Even though substantial advances made in the device configuration of the frontal layers of the superstrate cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell device have contributed to conversion efficiency, unresolved challenges remain in regard to controlling the self-compensation and minority carrier recombination at the back contact that limits the efficiency. In this study, a SCAPS-1D simulator was used to analyze the loss mechanism and performance limitations due to the band-bending effect upon copper chloride treatment and subsequent Cu2Te layer formation as the back contact buffer layer. The optimal energy bandgap range for the proposed back surface layer of Cu2Te is derived to be in the range of 1.1 eV to 1.3 eV for the maximum conversion efficiency, i.e., around 21.3%. Moreover, the impacts of absorber layer’s carrier concentration with respect to CdTe film thickness, bandgap, and operational temperature are analyzed. The optimized design reveals that the acceptor concentration contributes significantly to the performance of the CdTe devices, including spectral response. Consequently, the optimized thickness of the CdTe absorber layer with a Cu-based back contact is found to be 2.5 µm. Moreover, the effect of temperature ranging from 30 °C to 100 °C as the operating condition of the CdTe thin-film solar cells is addressed, which demonstrates an increasing recombination tread once the device temperature exceeds 60 °C, thus affecting the stability of the solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling)
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16 pages, 16393 KiB  
Article
Bending and Wave Propagation Analysis of Magneto-Electro-Elastic Functionally Graded Porous Microbeams
by Jun Hong, Shaopeng Wang, Xinyuan Qiu and Gongye Zhang
Crystals 2022, 12(5), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12050732 - 19 May 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1670
Abstract
In this paper, a microstructure-dependent magneto-electro-elastic functionally graded porous (MEEFGP) beam model is proposed using a variational approach. To account for the microstructure effect, the extended modified couple stress theory is incorporated in the new model. In addition, the porosity variation of the [...] Read more.
In this paper, a microstructure-dependent magneto-electro-elastic functionally graded porous (MEEFGP) beam model is proposed using a variational approach. To account for the microstructure effect, the extended modified couple stress theory is incorporated in the new model. In addition, the porosity variation of the two-phase beam model through the thickness direction is also considered. The new developed model is verified in terms of its correctness with a FEM model. Based on the equations of motion and boundary conditions derived by Hamilton’s principle, the static bending and wave propagation behaviors of the new model are analytically determined. The results prove the existence of the microstructure effect and the magneto-electro-elastic multi-field coupling effect. There are significant differences between the new model and the classical model at the microscale. Moreover, the porosity also has an important influence on the mechanical properties of the new model. The results predicted by the new model can provide the theoretical basis for the design of microscale acoustic wave devices and micro-electro-mechanical systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling)
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15 pages, 9551 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Objective Identification of DEM Microparameters for Brittle Materials
by Rui Chen, Xu Wang, Xiangwu Xiao, Congfang Hu, Ruitao Peng and Yong Wang
Crystals 2022, 12(3), 387; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12030387 - 13 Mar 2022
Viewed by 1553
Abstract
The discrete element method (DEM) [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling)
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14 pages, 3671 KiB  
Article
Receding Contact Problem of Multi-Layered Elastic Structures Involving Functionally Graded Materials
by Jie Yan and Cong Wang
Crystals 2022, 12(3), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12030354 - 06 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1983
Abstract
This paper studies a receding contact problem of a functionally graded layer laminate pressed against a functionally graded coated homogeneous half-plane substrate by a rigid flat indenter. The shear modulus of the functionally graded materials with a constant Poisson’s ratio is modeled by [...] Read more.
This paper studies a receding contact problem of a functionally graded layer laminate pressed against a functionally graded coated homogeneous half-plane substrate by a rigid flat indenter. The shear modulus of the functionally graded materials with a constant Poisson’s ratio is modeled by an exponential function which varies along the thickness direction. Both the governing equations and the boundary conditions of the receding contact problem are converted into a pair of singular integral equations using the Fourier integral transforms, which are numerically integrated by the Chebyshev–Gauss quadrature. The contact pressure and the contact size at both contact interfaces are eventually obtained iteratively, as developed from the steepest descent algorithm. Extensive parametric studies suggest that it is possible to regulate the contact pressure and contact size by constructing the top layer from a soft functionally graded material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thin Structures and Materials Modelling)
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