Effects of electric field and poling on the mode I energy release rate in cracked piezoelectric ceramics at cryogenic temperatures

We discuss the mode I energy release rate of a rectangular piezoelectric material with a crack under electromechanical loading at cryogenic temperatures. A crack was created normal or parallel to the poling direction, and electric fields were applied parallel or normal to the poling. A plane strain finite element analysis was carried out, and the effects of electric field and localized polarization switching on the energy release rate were discussed for the piezoelectric ceramics at cryogenic temperatures.     

The strip dielectric breakdown model

This paper reports on the analysis of the strip dielectric breakdown (DB) model for an electrically impermeable crack in a piezoelectric medium based on the general linear constitutive equations. The DB model assumes that the electric field in a strip ahead of the crack tip is equal to the dielectric breakdown strength, which is in analogy with the classical Dugdale model for plastic yielding. Using the Stroh formalism and the dislocation modeling of a crack, we derived the relationship between the DB strip size and applied mechanical and electrical loads, the intensity factors of stresses and electric displacement, and the local energy release rate. Based on the results, we discussed the effect of electric fields on fracture of a transversely isotropic piezoelectric ceramic by applying the local energy release rate as a failure criterion. It is shown that for an impermeable crack perpendicular to the poling direction, a positive electric field will assist an applied mechanical stress to propagate the crack, while a negative electric field will retard crack propagation. However, for an impermeable crack parallel to the poling direction, it is found that the applied electric field does not change the mode I stress intensity factor and the local energy release rate, i.e., the applied electric field has no effect on the crack growth.     

Dielectric breakdown model for a conductive crack and electrode in piezoelectric materials

The strip dielectric breakdown (DB) model introduced by Zhang and Gao [T.Y. Zhang, C.F. Gao, Fracture behavior of piezoelectric materials, Thero. Appl. Fract. Mech. 41 (2004) 339–379] is used to study the generalized 2D problem of a conductive crack and an electrode in an infinite piezoelectric material. The energy release rate and stress intensity factors are derived based on the Stroh formalism, and then they are applied as failure criteria to predict the critical fracture loads. It is found that the DB strip may take the shielding effect on a conductive crack or electrode. For the case of an electrode, the local energy release rate and stress intensity factor become zero when DB happens ahead of the electrode tip. For the case of a mode-I conductive crack in a transversely isotropic piezoelectric solid, the results based on the DB model show that the critical stress intensity factor linearly increases as the applied electric field parallel to the poling direction increases, while it linearly decreases as the applied electric field anti-parallel to the poling direction increases. Finally, the upper and lower bounds of the actual critical fracture loads are proposed for a conductive crack in a piezoelectric material under combined mechanical–electrical loads.     

On fracture testing of piezoelectric ceramics

Fracture tests carried out on unpoled and poled PZT-5H four-point bend specimens are presented in this paper. The crack faces were parallel to the poling direction. Both mechanical loads and electric fields were applied to the poled specimens. The experimental results were analyzed by means of the finite element method and a conservative M-integral including the crack face boundary conditions. Fracture tests on four-point bend PIC-151 specimens with the crack faces perpendicular to the poling directions were also analyzed here; the experimental results were taken from the literature. A mixed mode fracture criterion is proposed for piezoelectric ceramics. This criterion is based upon the energy release rate and two phase angles. This criterion was implemented with experimental results from the literature and from this investigation. Excellent agrement was found between the fracture curve and the experimental results of the specimens with the crack faces perpendicular to the poling direction. With some scatter, reasonable agreement was observed between the fracture curve and the experimental results of the specimens with crack faces parallel to the poling direction.     

Two collinear unequal cracks in a poled piezoelectric plane: Mode I case solved by a new approach of real fundamental solutions

The purpose of the present work is to study the problem of two collinear unequal cracks in a piezoelectric plane under mode I electromechanical loadings via a new approach. For the first time, real fundamental solutions are derived for in-plane piezoelectric governing equations. The cracks are simulated by continuously distributed generalized dislocations and Cauchy singular integral equations are established from the solution of a generalized point dislocation. Both the theorectical derivation and numerical computations are validated by the exact solution in a special case. Parametric studies are conducted to reveal the effects of crack space, crack length, electric loading and remanent electric displacement on energy release rate. It is found that negative electric displacement loading can decrease both the total energy release rate (TERR) and the mechanical strain energy release rate (MSERR), implying that it has a shielding effect on cracks definitely. Positive electric displacement loading can enhance MSERR, but meanwhile it can enhance or reduce TERR depending on the magnitude of the electric loading factor. The effect of a remanent electric displacement along the poling direction is equivalent to that of a positive electric field loading and should be considered in engineering design.     

Effects of remanent field on an elliptical flaw and a crack in a poled piezoelectric ceramic

Commonly used piezoelectric ceramics such as PZT and PLZT are polarized ferroelectric polycrystals. After poling, remanent strains and a remanent polarization exist in a ceramic material. Remanent field can affect the electroelastic field and consequently plays a critical role in fracture of poled ceramics. Based on a linear constitutive law, the electroelastic field and the energy release rate of an elliptical cavity (or a crack) in a poled piezoelectric are re-examined in this study by including the effects of remanent field. It is noted that the remanent field generally has a minor effect on the stress field and a pronounced effect on the electric field at the apex of the major axis of an elliptical flaw. When the permittivity of the cavity is small, the effect of remanent polarization is similar to that of a very strong electric field applied along the poling direction. However, for the case of a conducting flaw, the remanent field does not influence the electroelastic field and energy release rate. Energy release rate of a flaw in a poled ferroelectric ceramic with and without the remanent polarization is generally different.     

Fracture mechanics of piezoelectric materials

This paper presents an analysis of crack problems in homogeneous piezoelectrics or on the interfaces between two dissimilar piezoelectric materials based on the continuity of normal electric displacement and electric potential across the crack faces. The explicit analytic solutions are obtained for a single crack in an infinite piezoelectric or on the interface of piezoelectric bimaterials. For homogeneous materials it is found that the normal electric displacement D₂, induced by the crack, is constant along the crack faces which depends only on the remote applied stress fields. Within the crack slit, the perturbed electric fields induced by the crack are also constant and not affected by the applied electric displacement fields. For bimaterials, generally speaking, an interface crack exhibits oscillatory behavior and the normal electric displacement D₂ is a complex function along the crack faces. However, for bimaterials, having certain symmetry, in which an interface crack displays no oscillatory behavior, it is observed that the normal electric displacement D₂ is also constant along the crack faces and the electric field E₂ has the singularity ahead of the crack tip and has a jump across the interface. Energy release rates are established for homogeneous materials and bimaterials having certain symmetry. Both the crack front parallel to the poling axis and perpendicular to the poling axis are discussed. It is revealed that the energy release rates are always positive for stable materials and the applied electric displacements have no contribution to the energy release rates. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A study on influence of poling direction on piezoelectric plate weakened by two collinear semi-permeable cracks

A study on the influence of change in poling direction is carried out for mechanical and electric strip-yield model for a transversely isotropic piezoelectric plate cut along two equal collinear semi-permeable straight hairline cracks. Two cases are considered, when the developed saturation zone is bigger or smaller than mechanical yield zone. The Stroh formalism and complex variable technique are employed to obtain the solution. The effect of change in poling direction is studied on crack opening displacement, crack opening potential drop and energy release rate. Also, a study is carried out on the suitability of crack closure for different piezoelectric ceramics. The obtained results are presented graphically and discussed.     

On saturation-strip model of a permeable crack in a piezoelectric ceramic

Summary. The saturation-strip model for piezoelectric crack is re-examined in a permeable environment to analyze fracture toughness of a piezoelectric ceramic. In this study, a permeable crack is modeled as a vanishing thin but finite rectangular slit with surface charge deposited along crack surfaces. This permeable saturation crack model reveals that there exists a possible leaky mode for electrical field, which allows applied electric field passing through the dielectric medium inside a crack. By taking into account the leaky mode effect, a first-order approximated solution is obtained with respect to slit height, h ₀, in the analysis of electrical and mechanical fields in the vicinity of a permeable crack tip. The permeable saturation crack model presented here also considers the effect of charge distribution on crack surfaces, which may be caused by any possible charge-discharge process in the dielectric medium inside the crack. A closed form solution is obtained for the permeable crack perpendicular to the poling direction under both mechanical as well electrical loads. Both local and global energy release rates are calculated. Remarkably, the global energy release rate for a permeable crack has an expression, where M is elastic modulus, a is the half crack length, is permittivity constant, and e is piezoelectric constant. This result is in a broad agreement with some experimental observations and may be served as the fracture criterion for piezoelectric materials. This contribution elucidates how an applied electric field affects crack growth in piezoelectric ceramic through its interaction with permeable environment surrounding a crack. The author would like to acknowledge the support from the Academic Senate Committee on Research at University of California (Berkeley) through the fund of BURNL-07427-11503-EGSLI.     

压电弹性体中光滑顶点的正三角形孔边裂纹的反平面问题分析

通过构造新的保角映射,利用复变函数的方法,研究了含光滑顶点的正三角形孔边裂纹的横观各向同性的压电弹性体的反平面问题。在电可穿透和电不可穿透裂纹、孔周及裂纹面为自由表面的假设下,充分利用Cauchy积分公式和复变函数方法,得到了裂纹尖端的场强度因子和能量释放率的表达式。数值算例显示了在不同边界条件下裂纹的几何尺寸、机电载荷对能量释放率和机械应变能释放率的影响规律。结果表明:在电可通和电不可通边界条件下,裂纹长度和三角形边长的增加会导致能量释放率增加,机械载荷则总是促进裂纹的扩展。在电不可通边界条件下电位移可以促进或抑制裂纹的扩展,而在电可通边界条件下电位移对裂纹扩展没有影响。     

An analytical solution for a cracked piezoelectric plate according to the PKHS electric boundary condition

Summary Based on the Stroh formalism, an analytical solution for a central crack normal to the poling direction in an infinite plane piezoelectric solid subjected to electromechanical loads at infinity is presented according to the crack model suggested by Parton and Kudryavtsev [1] and used by Hao and Shen [2] (abbreviated as the PKHS type crack [3]) without any treatment of the mapping technique. Under generalized plane deformation, the variable tendency of the energy release rate (ERR) is found to be load-dependent, but the variable tendency of the mechanical strain energy release rate (MSERR) is completely independent of the applied electric loads. It is concluded that the present numerical results under high applied mechanical and electrical loads provide a better understanding for the PKHS type crack, which will benefit to its practical applications.     

压电复合材料中III型唇形裂纹问题的解析解

采用复变函数方法和保角映射技术,研究了压电复合材料中含唇形裂纹的无限大体远场受反平面机械载荷和面内电载荷作用下的反平面问题,利用复变函数中的留数定理和Cauchy积分公式,分别获得了电不可通和电可通两种边界条件下裂纹尖端场强度因子和机械应变能释放率的解析表达式。当唇形裂纹的高度趋于零时,可得到无限大压电复合材料中Griffith裂纹的解析解。若不考虑电场作用,所得解退化为经典材料的已知结果。数值算例显示了裂纹的几何尺寸和机电载荷对机械应变能释放率的影响规律。结果表明: 唇形裂纹高度的增加会阻碍裂纹的扩展;机械载荷总是促进裂纹的扩展;电载荷对裂纹扩展的影响与裂纹面电边界条件有关。     

On the effects of an electric field on the fracture toughness of poled piezoelectric ceramics

Central crack specimens have been used to study the effects of an applied electric field on the fracture toughness of poled soft lead zirconate titanate ceramics (PZT-5). The ultrasonic lapping technique was used to machine the central crack of the specimens used. The present experimental study illustrated that changing the field from negative to positive reduced the fracture toughness of a specimen subjected to an applied electric field. These experimental results were in agreement with the observations made by Park and Sun (J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 78 (1995) 1475) and Heyer et al. (Acta Mater. 46 (1998) 6615). Finite element results were employed to compare with the experimental data. Four fracture criteria, i.e. total energy release rate, mechanical energy release rate, local energy release rate and strain energy release rate, were compared with the experimental results. It was found the local energy release rate, which was defined based on a strip electric saturation model, was in broad agreement with the experimental observations. Moreover, it was found that the strain energy density criterion was unable to describe the effect of electric field on fracture toughness when a large electric field was applied.     

压电-压磁板条中反平面裂纹的电-磁-弹性分析

基于线性电磁弹性理论,获得了压电-压磁板条中反平面裂纹尖端附近的奇异应力、电场和磁场。假设裂纹位于和板条边界平行的中心位置,并且裂纹是电磁渗透型的。利用Fourier变换,将裂纹面的混合边值问题化为对偶积分方程,即而归结为第二类Fredholm积分方程。通过渐近分析,得到了裂纹尖端附近应力、应变、电位移、电场、磁场和磁感的封闭表达式。结果表明,对于电磁渗透裂纹,电场强度因子和磁场强度因子总为0;板条的宽度对应力强度因子有显著的影响;能量释放率总为正值。     

Energy Analysis for Permeable and Impermeable Cracks in Piezoelectric Materials

This letter deals with an energy analysis for both permeable and impermeable cracks in piezoelectric materials. Computed numerical results are plotted in figures, which support Park-Sun's conclusion (1995a,b) that the total energy release rate (TERR) involving both mechanical and electric parts is not suitable to describe piezoelectric fracture for a plane impermeable crack because the two parts have different signs: the former is positive and the latter is always negative under any kinds of combined mechanical-electric loading. This provides the major reason as why the mechanical part (the mechanical strain energy release rate, MSERR) must be used as a fracture criterion empirically. Whereas the electric part of the TERR for a permeable crack does always vanish whatever the poling direction is oriented with respect to the remote electric loading direction. This finding supports McMeeking's (1990, 1999) conclusion that the TERR could be used as a fracture criterion for permeable cracks.     

Edge cracked piezoelectric ceramic block under electromechanical impact loading

The dynamic field intensity factors and energy release rates in a piezoelectric ceramic block containing an edge crack with the condition of continuous electric crack faces under electromechanical impact loading are obtained. Integral transform method is used to reduce the problem to two pairs of dual integral equations, which are then expressed to an Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. Numerical values on the dynamic stress intensity factor and dynamic energy release rate are obtained to show the influence of the geometry and electric field.     

An Annular Crack in a Magnetoelectroelastic Layer

A flat annular crack in a magnetoelectroelastic layer subjected to mechanical, electric and magnetic loadings is investigated under magnetoelectrically impermeable boundary condition on the crack surface. Using Hankel transform technique, the mixed boundary value problem is reduced to a system of singular integral equations. With the aid of Gauss-Chebyshev integration technique, the integral equations are further reduced to a system of algebraic equations. The field intensity factor and energy release rate are determined. Numerical results reveal the effects of electric and magnetic loadings and crack configuration on crack propagation and growth.     

Singular stress and electric fields of a piezoelectric ceramic strip with a finite crack under longitudinal shear

Summary Following the theory of linear piezoelectricity, we consider the problem of determining the singular stress and electric fields in an orthotropic piezoelectric ceramic strip containing a Griffith crack under longitudinal shear. The crack is situated symmetrically and oriented in a direction parallel to the edges of the strip. Fourier transforms are used to reduce the problem to the solution of a pair of dual integral equations. The solution of the dual integral equations is then expressed in terms of a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. Numerical values on the stress intensity factor and the energy release rate for piezoelectric ceramics are obtained, and the results are graphed to display the influence of the electric field.     

The energy release rate for a Griffith crack in a piezoelectric material

The plane solution giving the stresses and electric fields in an infinite body around a cylindrical cavity with an elliptical cross-section is presented. The energy change in an infinite body due to the introduction of an elliptical cavity having an electric field within it is calculated. The electric field from the interior of the cavity is then used in conjunction with the energy change formula to calculate the total energy release rate per crack tip when a Griffith crack propagates. Due to a change of stored electrostatic energy within the crack, the total energy release rate is not equal to the energy release rate at the crack tips as the material separates. The implications for fracture and crack growth are discussed.     

Elliptical inclusion problem in antiplane piezoelectricity: Implications for fracture mechanics

An elliptical piezoelectric inclusion embedded in an infinite piezoelectric matrix is analyzed in the framework of linear piezoelectricity. Using the conformal mapping technique, a closed-form solution is obtained for the case of a far-field antiplane mechanical load and an inplane electrical load. The solution to a permeable elliptical hole problem is obtained as a limiting case of vanishing elastic modulus of the inclusion. This enables the study of the nature of crack tip electric field singularity which is shown to depend on the electrical boundary condition imposed on the crack faces. The energy release rate of a self-similarly expanding slender crack in the presence of electric fields is obtained by using the generalized M-integral. The energy release rate expression indicates that the electric field has a crack-arresting influence. This effect is inferred to have a more fundamental physical origin in the interaction between the applied electric field and the induced surface charges on the crack faces. An experimental result contradicting the theoretical prediction on the crack-arresting effect is also discussed.