Crack path selection in piezoelectric bimaterials

The problem of crack path selection in piezoelectric bimaterials is considered in this paper. Based on the Stroh formulation for anisotropic material and Green’s functions for piezoelectric bimaterials, the crack problem is expressed in terms of coupled singular integral equations at first, and then the equations are used to solve for stress and electric displacement fields numerically. A crack impinging an interface joining two dissimilar materials may arrest or may advance by either penetrating the interface or deflecting into it. The competition between deflection and penetration is investigated using the maximum energy release rate criterion. Numerical results are presented to study the role of remote electroelastic loads on the path selection of crack extension.