Interface crack problem in elastic dielectric/piezoelectric bimaterials

By considering an isotropic elastic dielectric material as a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material with little piezoelectricity, the interface crack problem in elastic/piezoelectric bimaterials is treated in this paper based on Stroh's complex potential theory (1958) with the impermeable crack model. In order to obtain universal results, Numerical results of the near tip stress field and the electric field for 35 kinds of dissimilar bimaterials constructed by five kinds of elastic dielectric materials, namely Epoxy, Polymer, Al₂O₃, SiC and Si₃N₄, and seven kinds of piezoelectric ceramics, namely PZT-4, BaTiO₃, PZT-5H, PZT-6B, PZT-7A, P-7, and PZT-PIC151, are presented. It is concluded that all the combinations lead to the same results: in which the first crack tip singularity parameter does not vanish whereas the second parameter always vanishes. From the physical point of view, an interface crack in such a dissimilar material shows a similar oscillating singularity as that in dissimilar elastic bimaterials. Moreover, by using a maximization value technique, the regular inverse square root singularity r ^–1/2 of the stress and the electric field at the crack tip can be realized, although, theoretically, an interface crack in such bimaterials possesses the well-known oscillating singularity r ^{–1/2± i}. Of great significance is that, in the absence of mechanical loadings, a purely electric loading can induce relative large model I or II stress intensity factor for a interface crack in some elastic/piezoelectric bimaterials, which implies that the electric-induced failure may be realized in such bimaterials.     

Parallel crack near the interface of magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials

A parallel crack near the interface of magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials is considered. The crack is modelled by using the continuously distributed edge dislocations, which are described by the density functions defined on the crack line. With the aid of the fundamental solution for the edge dislocation, the present problem is reduced to a system of singular integral equations, which can be numerically solved by using the Chebyshev numerical integration technique. Then, the stress intensity factor (SIF), the magnetic induction intensity factor (MIIF) and the electric displacement intensity factor (EDIF) at the crack tips are evaluated. Using these fracture criteria, the cracking behaviour of magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials is investigated. Numerical examples demonstrate that the interface, mechanical load, magnetic load and material mismatch condition are all important factors affecting the fracture toughness of the magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials.     

A nonlinear bilayer beam model for an interfacial crack in dielectric bimaterials under mechanical/electrical loading

A bilayer beam model is extended to study the fracture behavior of dielectric interfacial cracks. In this model, a semi-infinite crack with an original opening value is oriented along the interface between two dielectric layers which are under mechanical/electrical loading. Taking into account the effect of the electrostatic traction on the interfacial crack, a nonlinear analytical solution is derived, along with also a developed finite element analysis method where a special constitutive equation for the capacitor element in ANSYS is utilized to simulate the electrostatic tractions. Both the analytical and numerical solutions predict the same results which further show that the elastic and dielectric mismatches can play a significant role in the interfacial cracking behavior under mechanical and electrical loading. Furthermore, the electrostatic tractions may cause hysteresis loops in the curve of crack opening versus applied mechanical displacement or versus applied electric voltage. An applied mechanical load is the driving force for the interfacial cracking, while an applied electric field retards it.     

On a moving dielectric crack in a piezoelectric interface with spatially varying properties

This paper provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of a finite crack propagating with constant speed along an interface between two dissimilar piezoelectric media under inplane electromechanical loading. The interface is modeled as a graded piezoelectric layer with spatially varying properties (functionally graded piezoelectric materials, i.e., FGPMs). The analytical formulations are developed using Fourier transforms and the resulting singular integral equations are solved with Chebyshev polynomials. Using a dielectric crack model with deformation-dependent electric boundary condition, the dynamic stress intensity factors, electric displacement intensity factor, crack opening displacement (COD) intensity factor, and energy release rate are derived to fully understand this inherent mixed mode dynamic fracture problem. Numerical simulations are made to show the effects of the material mismatch, the thickness of the interfacial layer, the crack position, and the crack speed upon the dynamic fracture behavior. A critical state for the electromechanical loading applied to the medium is identified, which determines whether the traditional impermeable (or permeable) crack model serves as the upper or lower bound for the dielectric model considering the effect of dielectric medium crack filling.     

双相压电介质中界面附近圆孔的动态性能分析

采用Green函数法研究界面附近含圆形孔洞的双相压电介质对时间谐和SH波的散射问题。首先利用复变函数的方法构造出适合于本文问题的位移Green函数和电场Green函数。然后利用契合思想,根据界面上的连续性条件建立起求解问题的第一类Fredholm型积分方程,得到了圆孔孔边周向剪应力的动应力集中系数和周向电场强度集中系数的解析表达式。最后作为算例,给出了界面附近圆孔边界的两组集中系数随入射波频率、材料的几何参数和物理参数变化的计算结果图,部分计算结果与已有文献进行了比较。     

The nonlinear fracture behavior of an arbitrarily oriented dielectric crack in piezoelectric materials

Summary. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the plane problem of an arbitrarily oriented crack in a piezoelectric medium. Using a dielectric crack model, the electric boundary condition along the crack surfaces is assumed to be governed by the opening displacement of the crack. The formulation of this nonlinear problem is based on the use of Fourier transform and solving the resulting nonlinear singular integral equations. Multiple deformation modes are observed according to different geometric and loading conditions. The effects of the crack orientation and the applied loads upon the fracture behavior of cracked piezoelectric materials are studied. The relation between the current crack model and the commonly used permeable and impermeable models is discussed.     

Contact zone models for an interface crack in a piezoelectric material

Summary A plane strain problem for an interface crack along the fixed edge of a piezoelectric semi-infinite space is examined. Electrically conducting and electrically insulated crack surfaces are considered. By using Fourier transforms the systems of singular integral equations are formulated for both cases. It was found that in the second case for the most commonly used piezoelectric materials instead of oscillating singularity the real singularity of general power type occurs. The dependence of this singularity on the piezoelectric parameters has been investigated. The contact zone model is considered as an alternative one for the case of the oscillating singularity, and the way this model can be used for the investigation of interface cracks in finite size piezoelectrics is suggested.     

Electroelastic analysis of an electrically dielectric Griffith crack in a piezoelectric layer

The fracture analysis of an electrically dielectric Griffith crack embedded in a piezoelectric layer is made under in-plane electro-mechanical loadings. To simulate an opening crack full of a dielectric interior, the energetically consistent crack-face boundary conditions are utilized. Applying the Fourier transform technique, the boundary-value problem is reduced to solving two coupling singular integral equations. The intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, crack opening displacement (COD) and electric potential are further determined by the Lobatto-Chebyshev collocation method. The variations of the electric displacement at the crack surfaces are investigated by using the energetically consistent and semi-permeable boundary conditions respectively. The observations show that the electric displacement inside the crack is decreasing with an increase of the ratio between the crack length and piezoelectric layer width. Numerical computations are further carried out to compare the intensity factors of stress and electric potential, and the energy release rate using the energetically consistent boundary conditions with those using the semi-permeable boundary conditions. The obtained results reveal that the stress induced by a dielectric inside a crack has great effects on the stress intensity factor and energy release rate, but little influence on the electric potential difference across the crack.     

含不完美界面的磁电复合材料倾斜裂纹问题

研究了含非完美界面的双层压电/压磁复合材料中压电相存在一个倾斜于界面的Ⅲ型裂纹问题。采用弹簧型耦合界面模型模拟非完美界面,运用Fourier积分变换法将裂纹面条件转化为奇异积分方程,并使用Lobatto-Chebyshev方法数值求解了裂纹尖端应力强度因子（SIF）。详细地研究了裂纹尖端SIF与界面参数、压电/压磁材料参数和材料的层厚、裂纹的倾斜角、裂纹与界面的距离等几何参数的关系。结果表明：力学不完美性可以独立地增大SIF,而磁学、电学不完美性只有与力学不完美性耦合时才会减小SIF;力学-电学、力学-磁学不完美性的耦合会减小SIF,而磁学-电学不完美性的耦合不会影响SIF;磁场作用下,增大压磁层弹性模量会减小SIF,而增大压电层压电系数,减小压电层弹性模量和介电常数,均会减小SIF;界面不完美性会影响SIF随裂纹倾斜角度或裂纹与界面之间距离的变化规律;在一定范围内增加压电层或压磁层厚度可以减小SIF。     

On the electrical boundary conditions on the crack surfaces in piezoelectric ceramics

This paper investigates a cracked piezoelectric ceramic under remote electro-mechanical loads. The ideal crack boundary conditions for electrically impermeable and permeable crack assumptions, and the deformed crack with a yet-to-be-determined crack shape are considered. The last is referred to as the “natural boundary condition (NBC)”. Closed-form solutions to the crack-tip field intensity factors are obtained. The analysis shows that traditional approaches to the electric boundary conditions on the crack faces, that is, either the impermeable crack assumption or the permeable crack assumption, produce significantly different results for the crack-tip quantities such as electric displacement intensity factor, energy release rate and crack opening displacement. There are also considerable differences between the results obtained from traditional impermeable and permeable crack analyses and those obtained from the proposed NBC. The difference increases with applied electric loads.     

Electroelastic analysis of an interface anti-plane shear crack in a layered piezoelectric plate

The problem of an anti-plane interface crack in a layered piezoelectric plate composed of two bonded dissimilar piezoelectric ceramic layers subjected to applied voltage is considered. It is assumed that the crack is either impermeable or permeable. An integral transform technique is employed to reduce the problem considered to dual integral equations, then to a Fredholm integral equation by introducing an auxiliary function. Field intensity factors and energy release rate are obtained in explicit form in terms of the auxiliary function. In particular, by solving analytically a resulting singular integral equation, they are determined explicitly in terms of given electromechanical loadings for the case of two bonded layers of equal thickness. Some numerical results are presented graphically to show the influence of the geometric parameters on the field intensity factors and the energy release rate.     

On contact zone models for an electrically impermeable interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial

An electrically impermeable interface crack between two semi-infinite piezoelectric planes under remote mechanical tension-shear and electrical loading is studied. Assuming the stresses, strains and displacements are independent on the coordinate x ₂ the expressions for the elastic displacement and potential jumps as well as for the stresses and electrical displacement along the interface via a sectionally holomorphic vector function are found. Introducing an artificial contact zone at the right crack tip and assuming the materials possess the symmetry class 6 mm the problem is reduced for a wide range of bimaterial compounds to a combination of combined Dirichlet–Riemann and Hilbert boundary value problems which are solved analytically. From these solutions clear analytical expressions for characteristic mechanical and electrical parameters are derived. As particular cases of the above mentioned solution the classical (oscillating) and contact zone solutions are obtained. Further, a comparison with an associated solution for an electrically permeable crack has been performed. The fracture mechanical parameters for all models via the remote loads are found analytically and important relationships between these parameters are obtained. Due to these relationships an important algorithm of a numerical method applicable for the investigation of an interface crack in a finite sized piezoelectric bimaterial is suggested.     

Interaction between an electrically permeable crack and the imperfect interface in a functionally graded piezoelectric sensor

For a cracked piezoelectric sensor with an imperfect interface, the interaction between the crack and the imperfect interface is a problem of practical significance. Such a problem is investigated by the method of singular integral equation in the present work. The interface is assumed to be mechanically compliant and weakly conducting. Parametric studies on stress intensity factors (SIFs) indicate that when the crack is near to the interface SIFs increase as the interface change from perfection to imperfection, and the mechanical imperfection generally has more remarkable influence on SIFs than the dielectric imperfection does. For a crack in the piezoelectric layer and near to the interface, the SIF gets less sensitive to the variation of the substrate thickness if the interface becomes imperfect. The interfacial imperfection has less influence on the fracture behavior of a stiffer piezoelectric layer.     

Griffith crack moving along the interface of two dissimilar piezoelectric materials

The problem of an anti-plane Griffith crack moving along the interface of dissimilar piezoelectric materials is solved by using the integral transform technique. It is shown from the result that the intensity factors of anti-plane stress and electric displacement are dependent on the speed of the Griffith crack as well as the material coefficients. When the two piezoelectric materials are identical, the present result will reduce to the result for the problem of an anti-plane moving Griffith crack in homogeneous piezoelectric materials. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On contact zone models for an electrically limited permeable interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial

An electrically limited permeable crack with a frictionless contact zone at the right crack tip between two semi-infinite piezoelectric spaces under the action of a remote electromechanical loading is considered. Attention is focused on the influence induced from the permittivity of the medium inside the crack gap on the contact zone length and the fracture mechanical parameters. Assuming the electric displacement constant inside the open region of the crack, the problem is reduced to a combined Dirichlet-Riemann and Hilbert boundary value problems which have been solved exactly. Stress and electric displacement intensity factors as well as the crack tip energy release rate are found in a clear analytical form. Furthermore, transcendental equations for the determination of the real contact zone length have been obtained for a general case and for a small contact zone length in an especially simple form. The dependencies of the mentioned values on the intensities of the electromechanical loading are presented in tables and associated diagrams.     

The shielding effect of the imperfect interface on a mode III permeable crack in a layered piezoelectric sensor

The mechanical model is established for a piezoelectric sensor with a mode III permeable crack parallel to the imperfect interface. Fracture analysis is performed by the standard methods of Fourier transform and singular integral equation. Three conclusions are drawn: (a) the imperfect interface has a shielding effect on the crack parallel and very near to it; (b) the shielding effect depends on the structural stiffness and the distance between the crack and interface; (c) for the electrically permeable crack, mechanical imperfection has more remarkable shielding effect than dielectric imperfection does.     

Influence of interface on fatigue threshold values in elastic bimaterials

This paper describes a study of the behavior of a fatigue crack growing in one elastic material and penetrating through the interface into a second material. The study aims especially to quantify the influence of the elastic mismatch of both materials on the threshold value of a fatigue crack propagating perpendicularly to the interface. Special attention is devoted to the case of a crack touching the interface. It is shown that the corresponding threshold value is strongly influenced by the existence of an interface between the two materials. A tentative procedure suggested in the paper makes it possible to quantify the effect and determine the dependence of the threshold value of a fatigue crack growing through the interface on the Dundurs parameters and β.

The results are applied to a body with a protective layer, and the corresponding fatigue threshold value for a crack with its tip at the interface is estimated. This makes it possible to decide whether the crack will stop at the interface or continue growing into the second material.

The results generally contribute to a better understanding of the failure of bi-material bodies and of structures with protective layers.