A piezoelectromagnetic medium is formed by bonding piezoelectric and magnetostrictive layers on tapered beams. Piezoelectromagnetic materials are often utilized as intelligent media in the design of distributed sensors and actuators of smart structures. A spectral nite element model is presented for evaluating the voltage and magnetic response of exible structures subjected to modulated force input. The Taguchi methodology is applied as a robust design technique to study the e ect of design variables such as the thickness of the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers, the taper ratio of the tapered beam and the boundary conditions. From the study it is concluded that the thickness of the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers and the taper ratio of the beam contribute signi cantly to the response of the structure considered.

As a sea wave comes to the shore then recedes from it, there is significant energy associated with the movement of the wave’s water. One way to extract this energy is to have the moving water push and pull on an oscillating vane. This work examines numerically the flow and forces associated with such a vane in a typical wave condition, using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package. The vane is a rectangular plate hinged at one edge and oscillating about it. Effects of plates shape on the flow pattern and developed forces are investigated. Changing the plate shapes can results in more energy extraction from the device.