Adjustable solitary waves in electroactive rods

This paper presents an asymptotic analysis of solitary waves propagating in an incompressible isotropic electroactive circular rod subjected to a biasing longitudinal electric displacement. Several asymptotic expansions are introduced to simplify the rod governing equations. The boundary conditions on the lateral surface of the rod are satisfied from the asymptotic point of view. In the limit of finite-small amplitude and long wavelength, a set of ten simplified one-dimensional nonlinear governing equations is established. To validate our approach and the derivation, we compare the linear dispersion relation with the one directly derived from the three-dimensional linear theory in the limit of long wavelength. Then, by the reductive perturbation method, we deduce the far-field equation (i.e. the KdV equation). Finally, the leading order of the electroelastic solitary wave solution is presented. Numerical examples are provided to show the influences of the biasing electric displacement and material constants on the solitary waves. It is found that the biasing electric displacement can modulate the velocity of solitary waves with a prescribed amplitude in the electroactive rod, a very interesting result which may promote the particular application of solitary waves in solids with multi-field coupling.