Analysis of a permeable interface crack in elastic dielectric/piezoelectric bimaterials

A permeable interface crack between elastic dielectric material and piezoelectric material is studied based on the extended Stroh’s formalism. Motivated by strong engineering demands to design new composite materials, the authors perform numerical analysis of interface crack tip singularities and the crack tip energy release rates for 35 types of dissimilar bimaterials, respectively, which are constructed by five kinds of elastic dielectric materials: Epoxy, Polymer, Al₂O₃, SiC, and Si₃N₄ and seven kinds of practical piezoelectric ceramics: PZT-4, BaTiO₃, PZT-5H, PZT-6B, PZT-7A, P-7, and PZT-PIC 151, respectively. The elastic dielectric material with much smaller permittivity than commercial piezoelectric ceramics is treated as a special transversely isotropic piezoelectric material with extremely small piezoelectricity. The present investigation shows that the structure of the singular field near the permeable interface crack tip consists of three singularities: and , which is quite different from that in the impermeable interface crack. It can be concluded that different far field loading cases have significant influence on the near-tip fracture behaviors of the permeable interface crack. Based on the present theoretical treatment and numerical analysis, the electric field induced crack growth is well explained, which provides a better understanding of the failure mechanism induced from interface crack growth in elastic dielectric/piezoelectric bimaterials. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10572110), Doctor Foundation of the Chinese Education Ministry and Doctorate Foundation of Xi’an Jiaotong University. The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

On the crack-tip stress singularity of interfacial cracks in transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimaterials

In this paper, characteristics of the interface crack-tip stress and electric displacement fields in transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimaterials are studied. The authors have proven, within the framework of the generalized Stroh formalism for piezoelectric bimaterials, that there is no coexistence of the parameters (oscillating) and κ (non-oscillating) in the interface crack-tip generalized stress field for all transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimaterials. This leads to the classification of piezoelectric bimaterials into one group that exhibits the oscillating property in the interface crack-tip generalized stress field and the other that does not. Fifteen (15) pair-combinations of six (6) piezoelectric materials PZT-4, PZT-5H, PZT-6B, PZT-7A, P-7, and BaTiO₃, which are commonly used in practice, are numerically analyzed in this study, and the results backup the above theoretical conclusions. Moreover, the associated eigenvectors for such material systems (with either =0 or κ=0) are also obtained numerically, and the result show that there still exist four linear independent associate eigenvectors for each bimaterial.     

Re-examination of the PKHS crack model in piezoelectric materials

In this paper, the PKHS crack model is re-examined in detail. Some novel features and better understandings are presented. It is found that the normal crack opening displacement jump (NCODJ) across the crack is always extremely small, whereas the electric potential drop (EPD) across the crack is very large for PZT-4 or PZT-5H under 20 MPa and a varying electric field from −0.5 MV/m to 0.5 MV/m. It is also found that the permittivities of the medium inside the crack gap influence the NCODJ and the EPD significantly. Of great significance is that the crack tip energy release rate (ERR) does not always show an even functional dependence on the applied electric field as previous researchers reported. Its variable tendencies (even or odd) depend on the mechanical loading levels, which are called as the load dependence feature here. In PZT-4, this load-dependence feature induced from the increasing mechanical loading may lead to a transformation of the crack tip ERR from an even functional dependence to an odd one when the applied electric loading varies within the range mentioned above, whereas in PZT-5H no such feature exists. This implies that different mechanical loading levels may yield different fracture behaviors when using the crack tip ERR as a fracture criterion. Moreover, the permittivities of medium inside the PKHS crack gap influence the variable tendencies of the ERR significantly. Thus, a useful addition to previous works is provided and a reasonable explanation for the fundamental discrepancy between previous theoretical predictions and experimental observations in piezoelectric fracture can be given. That is, previous experiments were performed for quite different piezoelectric materials, under quite different mechanical loading levels, and with quite different media inside crack gaps.     

Permeable cracks between two dissimilar piezoelectric materials

An interfacial crack with electrically permeable surfaces between two dissimilar piezoelectric ceramics under electromechanical loading is investigated. An exact expression for singular stress and electric fields near the tip of a permeable crack between two dissimilar anisotropic piezoelectric media are obtained. The interfacial crack-tip fields are shown to consist of both an inverse square root singularity and a pair of oscillatory singularities. It is found that the singular fields near the permeable interfacial crack tip are uniquely characterized by the real valued stress intensity factors proposed in this paper. The energy release rate is obtained in terms of the stress intensity factors. The exact solution of stress and electric fields for a finite interfacial crack problem is also derived.     

Numerical analysis for a crack in piezoelectric material under impact

In this paper, a numerical analysis of impact interfacial fracture for a piezoelectric bimaterial is provided. Starting from the basic equilibrium equation, a dynamic electro-mechanical FEM formulation is briefly presented. Then, the path-independent separated dynamic J integral is extended to piezoelectric bimaterials. Based on the relationship of the path-independent dynamic J integral and the stress and electric displacement intensity factors, the component separation method is used to calculate the stress and electric displacement intensity factors for piezoelectric bimaterials in this finite-element analysis. The response curves of the dynamic J integral, the stress and electric displacement intensity factors are obtained for both homogeneous material (PZT-4 and CdSe) and CdSe/PZT-4 bimaterial. The influences of the piezoelectricity and the electro-mechanical coupling factor on these responses are discussed. The effects of an applied electric field are also discussed.     

SINGULAR BEHAVIORS OF INTERFACIAL CRACKS IN 2D MAGNETOELECTROELASTIC BIMATERIALS

The singular characteristics of stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction fields near the tip of impermeable interracial cracks in two-dimensional magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials are studied using the generalized Stroh formalism. Two types of singularities are obtained： one is the oscillating singularity 1/2±iε, the other is the non-oscillating singularity 1/2±κ. It is found that the non-zero parameters ε and κ cannot coexist for one transversely isotropic MEE bimaterial, a similar result is obtained for transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimaterials.     

Analysis of electric boundary condition effects on crack propagation in piezoelectric ceramics

There are three types of cracks: impermeable crack, permeable crack and conducting crack, with different electric boundary conditions on faces of cracks in piezoelectric ceramics, which poses difficulties in the analysis of piezoelectric fracture problems. In this paper, in contrast to our previous FEM formulation, the numerical analysis is based on the used of exact electric boundary conditions at the crack faces, thus the common assumption of electric impermeability in the FEM analysis is avoided. The crack behavior and elasto-electric fields near a crack tip in a PZT-5 piezoelectric ceramic under mechanical, electrical and coupled mechanical-electrical loads with different electric boundary conditions on crack faces are investigated. It is found that the dielectric medium between the crack faces will reduce the singularity of stress and electric displacement. Furthermore, when the permittivity of the dielectric medium in the crack gap is of the same order as that of the piezoelectric ceramic, the crack becomes a conducting crack, the applied electric field has no effect on the crack propagation. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19672026, 19891180)     

Propagation of a mode-III interfacial crack in a piezoelectric–piezomagnetic bi-material

The transient response of a semi-infinite mode-III interfacial crack propagating between piezoelectric (PE) and piezomagnetic (PM) half spaces is investigated in this paper. The integral transform method together with the Wiener–Hopf and Cagniard–de Hoop techniques is used to solve the mixed boundary value problem under consideration. The existence of generalized Maerfeld–Tournois interfacial wave is discussed and the solutions of the coupled fields are derived for four different cases of bulk shear wave velocity. The dynamic intensity factors of stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction as well as energy release rate (ERR) are obtained in explicit forms. The numerical results of the universal functions and dimensionless ERR for several different material combinations are presented and discussed in details. It is found that the Bleustein–Gulyaev (generalized Maerfeld–Tournois) waves dominate the dynamic characteristics of the interfacial crack propagation in PE–PM bi-material.     

Closed form solution for two unequal collinear semi-permeable straight cracks in a piezoelectric media

The problem of two unequal collinear straight cracks weakening a poled transversely isotropic piezoelectric ceramic is addressed under semi-permeable electric boundary conditions on the crack faces. The plate has been subjected to combined in-plane normal(to the faces of the cracks) mechanical and electric loads. Problem is formulated employing Stroh formalism and solved using complex variable technique. The elastic field, electric field and energy release rate are obtained in closed analytic form. A case study is presented for poled PZT-5H cracked plate to study the effect of prescribed mechanical load, electric load, inter-crack distance and crack lengths on crack arrest parameters stress intensity factor (SIF), electric displacement intensity factor (EDIF) and mechanical and total energy release rates (ERR). Moreover a comparative study is done of impermeable and semi-permeable crack face boundary conditions on SIF, EDIF and ERR, and results obtained is presented graphically. It is observed that the effect of dielectric medium in the crack gap cannot be ignored.     

Arbitrarily oriented crack near interface in piezoelectric bimaterials

Arbitrarily oriented crack near interface in piezoelectric bimaterials is considered. After deriving the fundamental solution for an edge dislocation near the interface, the present problem can be expressed as a system of singular integral equations by modeling the crack as continuously distributed edge dislocations. In the paper, the dislocations are described by a density function defined on the crack line. By solving the singular integral equations numerically, the dislocation density function is determined. Then, the stress intensity factors (SIFs) and the electric displacement intensity factor (EDIF) at the crack tips are evaluated. Subsequently, the influences of the interface on crack tip SIFs, EDIF, and the mechanical strain energy release rate (MSERR) are investigated. The J-integral analysis in piezoelectric bimaterals is also performed. It is found that the path-independent of J₁-integral and the path-dependent of J₂-integral found in no-piezoelectric bimaterials are still valid in piezoelectric bimaterials.     

Closed-form solution for a mode-III interfacial edge crack between two bonded dissimilar elastic strips

A closed-form solution is obtained for the problem of a mode-III interfacial edge crack between two bonded semi-infinite dissimilar elastic strips. A general out-of-plane displacement potential for the crack interacting with a screw dislocation or a line force is constructed using conformal mapping technique and existing dislocation solutions. Based on this displacement potential, the stress intensity factor (SIF, K_III) and the energy release rate (ERR, G_III) for the interfacial edge crack are obtained explicitly. It is shown that, in the limiting special cases, the obtained results coincide with the results available in the literature. The present solution can be used as the Green’s function to analyze interfacial edge cracks subjected to arbitrary anti-plane loadings. As an example, a formula is derived correcting the beam theory used in evaluation of SIF (K_III) and ERR (G_III) of bimaterials in the double cantilever beam (DCB) test configuration.     

压电体中孔边Ⅲ型界面裂纹的动应力强度因子

采用Green函数法研究界面上含圆孔边界径向有限长度裂纹的两半无限压电材料对SH波的散射和裂纹尖端动应力强度因子问题.首先构造出具有半圆型凹陷半空间的位移Green函数和电场Green函数,然后采用裂纹"切割"方法构造孔边裂纹,并根据契合思想和界面上的连接条件建立起求解问题的定解积分方程.最后作为算例,给出了孔边界面裂纹尖端动应力强度因子的计算结果图并进行了讨论.     

Exact solutions for piezoelectric screw dislocations near two asymmetrical edge cracks emanating from an elliptical hole

The interaction between piezoelectric screw dislocations and two asymmetrical interfacial cracks emanating from an elliptic hole under combined mechanical and electric load at infinity is dealt with. The closed-form solutions are derived for complex potentials and generalized stress fields. In the limiting cases, some well-known results can be obtained from the present solutions. Moreover, some new exact solutions are shown. The stress intensity factor and the energy release rate at the right tip due to a screw dislocation near the right interfacial crack are also calculated. The results show that the shielding effect of dislocation on crack expanding decreases with the increase in dislocation azimuth angle and the distance between the dislocation and the crack tip, and the repulsion acting on the dislocation from the other half plane demotes crack propagation. The increasing of the length of the other crack promotes crack growth, but the increasing of the minor semi-axis demotes it.     

Asymptotic fields in the finite element analysis of electrically permeable interface cracks in piezoelectric bimaterials

Summary The interface crack problem for a piezoelectric bimaterial based on permeable conditions is studied numerically. To find the singular electromechanical field at the crack tip, an asymptotic solution is derived in connection with the conventional finite element method. For mechanical and electrical loads, the complex stress intensity factor for an interface crack is obtained. The influence of the applied loads on the electromechanical fields near the crack tip is also studied. For a particular case of a short crack with respect to the bimaterial size, the numerical results are compared with the exact analytical solutions, obtained for a piezoelectric bimaterial plane with an interface crack.One author (V.G.) gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.accepted for publication 7 June 2004     

Fracture analysis of circular-arc interface cracks in piezoelectric materials

The anti-plane problem of N arc-shaped interfacial cracks between a circular piezoelectric inhomogeneity and an infinite piezoelectric matrix is investigated by means of the complex variable method. Cracks are assumed to be permeable and then explicit expressions are presented, respectively, for the electric field on the crack faces, the complex potentials in media and the intensity factors near the crack-tips. As examples, the corresponding solutions are obtained for a piezoelectric bimaterial system with one or two permeable arc-shaped interfacial cracks, respectively. Additionally, the solutions for the cases of impermeable cracks also are given by treating an impermeable crack as a particular case of a permeable crack. It is shown that for the case of permeable interfacial cracks, the electric field is jumpy ahead of the crack tips, and its intensity factor is always dependent on that of stress. Moreover all the field singularities are dependent not only on the applied mechanical load, but also on the applied electric load. However, for the case of a homogeneous material with permeable cracks, all the singular factors are related only to the applied stresses and material constants.     

Analysis method of planar interface cracks of arbitrary shape in three-dimensional transversely isotropic magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials

Using the fundamental solutions for three-dimensional transversely isotropic magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials, the extended displacements at any point for an internal crack parallel to the interface in a magnetoelectroelastic bimaterial are expressed in terms of the extended displacement discontinuities across the crack surfaces. The hyper-singular boundary integral–differential equations of the extended displacement discontinuities are obtained for planar interface cracks of arbitrary shape under impermeable and permeable boundary conditions in three-dimensional transversely isotropic magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials. An analysis method is proposed based on the analogy between the obtained boundary integral–differential equations and those for interface cracks in purely elastic media. The singular indexes and the singular behaviors of near crack-tip fields are studied. Three new extended stress intensity factors at crack tip related to the extended stresses are defined for interface cracks in three-dimensional transversely isotropic magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials. A penny-shaped interface crack in magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials is studied by using the proposed method.The results show that the extended stresses near the border of an impermeable interface crack possess the well-known oscillating singularity r^?1/2±iε or the non-oscillating singularity r^?1/2±κ. Three-dimensional transversely isotropic magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials are categorized into two groups, i.e., ε-group with non-zero value of ε and κ-group with non-zero value of κ. The two indexes ε and κ do not coexist for one bimaterial. However, the extended stresses near the border of a permeable interface crack have only oscillating singularity and depend only on the mechanical loadings.     

压电效应下一维六方准晶双材料孔边裂纹的反平面问题研究

利用复变函数方法和保角变换技术研究了压电效应下一维六方准晶双材料中圆孔边单裂纹的反平面问题．考虑电不可渗透型边界条件,运用保角变换和Stroh公式得到了弹性体受远场剪切力和面内电载荷作用下裂纹尖端应力强度因子和能量释放率的解析解. 数值算例分析了几何参数、远场受力、电位移载荷对能量释放率的影响．结果表明：裂纹长度、耦合系数和远场剪切力的减小可以抑制裂纹的扩展．不考虑电场时,声子场应力对能量释放率的影响较小．本文的研究结果可作为研究一维六方压电准晶双材料孔边裂纹问题的理论基础,同时为压电准晶及其复合材料的设计、制备、优化和性能评估提供理论依据．     

The weight function for cracks in piezoelectrics

The weight function in fracture mechanics is the stress intensity factor at the tip of a crack in an elastic material due to a point load at an arbitrary location in the body containing the crack. For a piezoelectric material, this definition is extended to include the effect of point charges and the presence of an electric displacement intensity factor at the tip of the crack. Thus, the weight function permits the calculation of the crack tip intensity factors for an arbitrary distribution of applied loads and imposed electric charges. In this paper, the weight function for calculating the stress and electric displacement intensity factors for cracks in piezoelectric materials is formulated from Maxwell relationships among the energy release rate, the physical displacements and the electric potential as dependent variables and the applied loads and electric charges as independent variables. These Maxwell relationships arise as a result of an electric enthalpy for the body that can be formulated in terms of the applied loads and imposed electric charges. An electric enthalpy for a body containing an electrically impermeable crack can then be stated that accounts for the presence of loads and charges for a problem that has been solved previously plus the loads and charges associated with an unsolved problem for which the stress and electric displacement intensity factors are to be found. Differentiation of the electric enthalpy twice with respect to the applied loads (or imposed charges) and with respect to the crack length gives rise to Maxwell relationships for the derivative of the crack tip energy release rate with respect to the applied loads (or imposed charges) of the unsolved problem equal to the derivative of the physical displacements (or the electric potential) of the solved problem with respect to the crack length. The Irwin relationship for the crack tip energy release rate in terms of the crack tip intensity factors then allows the intensity factors for the unsolved problem to be formulated, thereby giving the desired weight function. The results are used to derive the weight function for an electrically impermeable Griffith crack in an infinite piezoelectric body, thereby giving the stress intensity factors and the electric displacement intensity factor due to a point load and a point charge anywhere in an infinite piezoelectric body. The use of the weight function to compute the electric displacement factor for an electrically permeable crack is then presented. Explicit results based on a previous analysis are given for a Griffith crack in an infinite body of PZT-5H poled orthogonally to the crack surfaces.     

Unified electrical boundary conditions for a crack interacting with a dislocation in piezoelectric media

This paper investigates the interaction problem between a dislocation and a finite crack in piezoelectric media. Analytical solutions for the generalized two-dimensional problem of a dislocation that is interacting with a finite crack in piezoelectric media are formulated via Stroh formalism. The analysis is conducted on the unified electrical crack boundary condition with the introduction of the electric crack condition parameter that can describe all the electric crack boundary conditions. The two ideal crack boundary conditions, namely, the electrically impermeable and permeable crack assumptions are obtained as two special cases for the current solutions. Based on the complex variable method and the perturbation technique, closed form solutions are obtained. The field intensity factors at the crack tip and the image forces on the dislocation due to the crack are computed and discussed.     

Crack problems 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 piezoelectrics or on the interfaces of piezoelectric bimaterials. A class of boundary problems involving many cracks is also solved. For homogeneous materials it is found that the normal electric displacementD ₂ induced by the crack is constant along the crack faces which depends only on the applied remote stress field. Within the crack slit, the electric fields induced by the crack are also constant and not affected by the applied electric field. For the bimaterials with realH, the normal electric displacementD ₂ is constant along the crack faces and electric fieldE ₂ has the singularity ahead of the crack tip and a jump across the interface. The project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 19704100) and the Natural Science Foundation of Chinese Academy of Sciences(No. KJ951-1-201).