Symmetry classes in piezoelectricity from second-order symmetries

Abstract: The piezoelectricity law is a constitutive model that describes how mechanical andelectric fields are coupled within a material. In its linear formulation this law comprises threeconstitutive tensors of increasing order: the second order permittivity tensor S, the third orderpiezoelectricity tensor P and the fourth-order elasticity tensor C. In a first part of the paper,the symmetry classes of the piezoelectricity tensor alone are investigated. Using a new approachbased on the use of the so-called clips operations, we establish the 16 symmetry classes of thistensor and provide their associated normal forms. Second order orthogonal transformations(plane symmetries and $\pi$-angle rotations) are then used to characterize and classify directly 11out of the 16 symmetry classes of the piezoelectricity tensor. An additional step to distinguishthe remaining classes is proposed