Orientation effect on the Boussinesq indentation of a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material

Three-dimensional finite element analysis was used to study the effect of the angle between the loading direction and the axisymmetric direction on the indentation behavior of a transversely isotropic piezoelectric half-space by a cylindrical indenter of flat end. Two cases were considered in the analysis, which included (a) the indentation by an insulating indenter, and (b) the indentation by a conducting indenter. Both the indentation load and the indentation-induced potential were found to be proportional to the indentation depth. Using the simulation results and the analytical relationship for the indentation by a rigid, insulating indenter, semi-analytical relationships were developed between the indentation load and the indentation depth and between the indentation-induced potential on the indenter and the indentation depth for the conducting indenter, respectively. The proportionality between the indentation-induced potential and the indentation depth is only a function of the angle between the loading direction and the poling direction, independent of the type of indenters, which may be used to measure the relative direction of the loading axis to the axisymmetric axis of transversely piezoelectric materials from the indentation test.     

Indentation responses of piezoelectric films ideally bonded to an elastic substrate

The influences of elastic substrate on the indentation force, contact radius, electric potential and electric charge responses of piezoelectric film/substrate systems are investigated by the integral transform method. The film is assumed to be ideally bonded to the substrate and the contact interaction between the indenter and the film is assumed to be frictionless, with three kinds of axisymmetric insulating and conducting indenters (i.e., punch, cone and sphere) considered. Obtained results show that when the ratio of the contact radius to the film thickness is close to zero, the influences of the elastic substrate disappear and the indentation behaviors converge to the piezoelectric half space solutions while the indentation responses approach the corresponding ones of elastic half space as the ratio gets to infinity. The transition between the piezoelectric and the elastic half space indentation solutions for the film/substrate system is quantified in terms of the film thickness and the elasticity of the substrate. Finite element analysis on an insulating sphere indentation is conducted to verify the numerical calculations and good agreement is observed. The obtained results are believed to be useful for developing experimental techniques to extract the material properties of piezoelectric film/substrate systems.     

Impact response of a piezoelectric layered composite plate with a crack

The dynamic response of a central crack in a piezoelectric layered composite plate under normal impact is analyzed. The crack is oriented normally to the interfaces. The Laplace and Fourier transform techniques are used to formulate the problem in terms of a singular integral equation. The order of stress singularity around the tip of the terminated crack is also obtained. Numerical calculations are carried out, and the main results presented are the variations of the dynamic stress intensity factor and the dynamic energy density factor versus time as functions of the geometric parameters and the piezoelectric material properties of the layered composite plate.     

Dispersion characteristics of wave propagation in layered piezoelectric structures: Exact and simplified models

This article presents a study of the dispersion characteristics of wave propagation in layered piezoelectric structures under plane strain and open-loop conditions. The exact dispersion relation is first determined based on an electro-elastodynamic analysis. The dispersion equation is complicated and can be solved only by numerical methods. Since the piezoelectric layer is very thin and can be modeled as an electro-elastic film, a simplified model of the piezoelectric layer reduces this complex problem to a non-trivial solution of a series of quadratic equations of wave numbers. The model is simple, yet captures the main phenomena of wave propagation. This model determines the dispersion curves of PZT4-Aluminum layered structures and identifies the two lowest modes of waves: the generalized longitudinal mode and the generalized Rayleigh mode. The model is validated by comparing with exact solutions, indicating that the results are accurate when the thickness of the layer is smaller or comparable to the typical wavelength. The effect of the piezoelectricity is examined, showing a significant influence on the generalized longitudinal wave but a very limited effect on the generalized Rayleigh wave. Typical examples are provided to illustrate the wave modes and the effects of layer thickness in the simplified model and the effects of the material combinations.     

Stiffness relations for piezoelectric indentation of flat and non-flat punches of arbitrary planform: Applications to probing nanoelectromechanical properties of materials

Stiffness relations for voltage-dependent contact mechanics of piezoelectric material are derived for an indenter of arbitrary planform under normal force, centrally or non-centrally applied, and electric charge distribution at the base. Relations between indentation depth, indentation force, electric potential and electric charge are explicitly given in terms of indenter's geometry and piezoelectric material constants. The analysis covers indenters with non-flat base approximated by a second-order surface; elliptic paraboloid is considered as an example. In the case of the elliptic non-flat planform, the derived stiffness relations are exact; otherwise, they are approximate and are shown to have good accuracy. The stiffness relations are given in elementary functions and are obtained by utilizing the recently established principle of correspondence between the piezoelectric and purely elastic problems. Besides contributing to extension of Hertzian mechanics to piezoelectric materials, these results are essential for quantitative interpretation of the scanning probe microscopy and piezoelectric nanoindentation data on piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and multiferroic materials.     

A mode III crack in functionally graded piezoelectric materials

This paper considers the mode III crack problem in functionally graded piezoelectric materials. The mechanical and the electrical properties of the medium are considered for a class of functional forms for which the equilibrium equations have an analytical solution. The problem is solved by means of singular integral equation technique. Both a single crack and a series of collinear cracks are investigated. The results are plotted to show the effect of the material inhomogeneity on the stress and the electric displacement intensity factors.     

Electro-mechanical analysis of an interfacial crack between a piezoelectric and two orthotropic layers

Summary  The problem of an interfacially cracked three-layered structure constructed of a piezoelectric and two orthotropic materials is analyzed using the theory of linear piezoelectricity and fracture mechanics. Anti-plane shear loading is considered, and the integral transform technique is used to determine the stress intensity factor. Numerical examples show the electro-mechanical effects of various material combinations and layer thicknesses on the stress intensity factor. Interesting results are obtained in comparison with earlier solutions for interfacially cracked piezoelectric structures. Received 29 December 2000; accepted for publication 3 May 2001     

Transient responses of a multilayered spherically isotropic piezoelectric hollow sphere

The dynamic solution of a multilayered spherically isotropic piezoelectric hollow sphere subjected to radial dynamic loads is obtained. By the method of superposition, the solution is divided into two parts: one is quasi-static and the other is dynamic. The quasi-static part is derived by the state-space method, and the dynamic part is obtained by the method of separation of variables coupled with the initial parameter method as well as the orthogonal expansion technique. By using the quasi-static and dynamic parts, the electric boundary conditions as well as the electric continuity conditions, a Volterra integral equation of the second kind with respect to a function of time is derived, which can be solved successfully by means of the interpolation method. The displacements, stresses and electric potentials are finally obtained. The present method is suitable for a multilayered spherically isotropic piezoelectric hollow sphere consisting of arbitrary layers and subjected to arbitrary spherically symmetric dynamic loads. Finally, numerical results are presented and discussed.     

Fracture behaviors of piezoelectric materials

Theoretical analyses and experimental observations of the failure and fracture behaviors of piezoelectric materials are presented. The theoretical analyses are based on the Stroh formalism. A strip dielectric breakdown model is proposed to estimate the effect of electrical non-linearity on the piezoelectric fracture of electrically insulated cracks. The reviewed experiments include the indentation fracture test, the bending test on smooth samples, the fracture test on pre-notched or pre-cracked samples, the environment-assisted fracture test, etc. For electrically insulated cracks, the experimental results show a complicated fracture behavior under combined electrical and mechanical loading. Fracture data are greatly scattered when a static electric field is applied. For electrically conducting cracks, the experimental results demonstrate that static electric fields can fracture poled and depoled lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics. A charge-free zone model is introduced to understand the failure behavior of conducting cracks in the depoled lead zirconate titanate ceramics under electrical and/or mechanical loading. These theoretical and experimental results indicate that fracture mechanics concepts are useful in the study of the failure behaviors of piezoelectric materials.     

Crack bifurcation predicted for dynamic anti-plane collinear cracks in piezoelectric materials using a non-local theory

A non-local theory of elasticity is applied to obtain the dynamic interaction between two collinear cracks in the piezoelectric materials plane under anti-plane shear waves for the permeable crack surface boundary conditions. Unlike the classical elasticity solution, a lattice parameter enters into the problem that make the stresses and the electric displacements finite at the crack tip. A one-dimensional non-local kernel is used instead of a two-dimensional one for the anti-plane dynamic problem to obtain the stress and electric displacement near the crack tips. By means of the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of two pairs of triple integral equations in which the unknown variable is the jump of the displacement across the crack surface. The solutions are obtained by means of the Schmidt method. Crack bifurcation is predicted using the strain energy density criterion. Minimum values of the strain energy density functions are assumed to coincide with the possible locations of fracture initiation. Bifurcation angles of ±5° and ±175° are found. The result of possible crack bifurcation was not expected before hand.     

Indentation of pressurized viscoplastic polymer spherical shells

The indentation response of polymer spherical shells is investigated. Finite deformation analyses are carried out with the polymer characterized as a viscoelastic/viscoplastic solid. Both pressurized and unpressurized shells are considered. Attention is restricted to axisymmetric deformations with a conical indenter. The response is analyzed for various values of the shell thickness to radius ratio and various values of the internal pressure. Two sets of material parameters are considered: one set having network stiffening at a moderate strain and the other having no network stiffening until very large strains are attained. The transition from an indentation type mode of deformation to a structural mode of deformation involving bending that occurs as the indentation depth increases is studied. The results show the effects of shell thickness, internal pressure and polymer constitutive characterization on this transition and on the deformation modes in each of these regimes.     

The extended Durbin method and its application for piezoelectric wave propagation problems

Based on the well-known Durbin method, an efficient numerical method was developed for the inversion of the two-sided Laplace transform. The accuracy of the method was verified using examples. As an application of the method, transient elastic waves propagating in a two-layered piezoelectric medium subjected to anti-plane concentrated loading and in-plane electric displacement loading were investigated. One-sided and two-sided Laplace transforms were applied to determine the shear stresses and electric displacements in the double Laplace transform domain. Subsequently, the Durbin method for one-sided Laplace transform inversion and the extended Durbin method for two-sided Laplace transform inversion were used to implement the numerical inversions. Additionally, the numerical results of the transient stresses and electric displacements were evaluated and discussed. It showed that the arrival time of transient waves satisfies physical phenomena, and the transient solution oscillates near the static solution and rapidly approximates the static solution.     

Closed-form solution for two collinear cracks in a piezoelectric strip

Under the permeable electric boundary condition, the problem of two collinear anti-plane shear cracks lying at the mid-plane of a piezoelectric strip is investigated. By using the Fourier transform, the associated problem is reduced to a singular integral equation. Solving the resulting equation analytically, the electro-elastic field intensity factors and energy release rates at the inner and outer crack tips can be determined in explicit form. Numerical results for PZT-5H piezoelectric ceramic are also presented graphically. The results reveal that the effect of electric field on crack growth in piezoelectric materials is dependent on applied elastic displacement.     

The behavior of permeable multi-cracks in a piezoelectric material

In this paper, the behavior of four parallel symmetric cracks in a piezoelectric material under anti-plane shear loading is studied by the Schmidt method for the permeable crack surface boundary conditions. By use of the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of two pairs of triple integral equations that the unknown variables are the jumps of the displacement across the crack surfaces. These equations are solved by means of the Schmidt method. The results show that the stress and the electric displacement intensity factors of cracks depend on the geometry of the crack. Contrary to the impermeable crack surface condition solution, it is found that the electric displacement intensity factors for the permeable crack surface conditions are much smaller than the results for the impermeable crack surface conditions.     

On the possibility of piezoelectric nanocomposites without using piezoelectric materials

In this work, predicated on nanoscale size-effects, we explore the tantalizing possibility of creating apparently piezoelectric composites without using piezoelectric constituent materials. In a piezoelectric material an applied uniform strain can induce an electric polarization (or vice-versa). Crystallographic considerations restrict this technologically important property to non-centrosymmetric systems. Non-uniform strain can break the inversion symmetry and induce polarization even in non-piezoelectric dielectrics. The key concept is that all dielectrics (including non-piezoelectric ones) exhibit the aforementioned coupling between strain gradient and polarization—an experimentally verified phenomenon known in some circles as the flexoelectric effect. This flexoelectric coupling, however, is generally very small and evades experimental detection unless very large strain gradients (or conversely polarization gradients) are present. Based on a field theoretic framework and the associated Greens function solutions developed in prior work, we quantitatively demonstrate the possibility of “designing piezoelectricity,” i.e. we exploit the large strain gradients present in the interior of composites containing nanoscale inhomogeneities to achieve an overall non-zero polarization even under an uniformly applied stress. We prove that the aforementioned effect may be realized only if both the shapes and distributions of the inhomogeneities are non-centrosymmetric. Our un-optimized quantitative results, based on limited material data and restrictive assumptions on inhomogeneity shape and distribution, indicate that apparent piezoelectric behavior close to 10% of Quartz may be achievable for inhomogeneity sizes in the 4 nm range. In future works, it is not unreasonable to expect enhanced performance based on optimization of shape, topology and appropriate material selection.     

Fracture prediction for piezoelectric ceramics based on the electric field saturation concept

The electrical field saturation model is applied to the fracture prediction of piezoelectric materials containing electrically impermeable cracks. This model is analogously similar to the electric displacement saturation model that available in the literature. An electrical field saturation strip near the crack front is introduced in the analytical model. The stress intensity factor K and the energy release rate G are obtained in closed-form. It is found that fracture predictions based on K and G criteria are identical. Fracture predictions based on the electric field saturation model and the electric displacement model are also found to be the same.     

An analytical model for electrode–ceramic interaction in multilayer piezoelectric actuators

The present paper develops an analytical model for multi-electrodes in multi-layered piezoelectric actuators, in which the electrodes are vertical to and terminated at the edges of the medium and electroelastic field concentrations ahead of the electrodes in the multilayer piezoelectric actuators are examined. By considering a representative unit in realistic multilayers, the problem is formulated in terms of electric potential between the electrode tips and results in a system of singular integral equations in which the electric potential is taken as unknown function. Effects are investigated of electrode spacing and piezoelectric coupling on the singular electroelastic fields at the electrode tips, and closed-form expressions are given for the electromechanical field near the electrode tips. Exact solution for un-coupled dielectrics is provided, where no piezoelectric coupling is present. The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Solutions to a limited-permeable crack or two limited-permeable collinear cracks in piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials

The solutions of a limited-permeable crack (case I) or two collinear limited-permeable cracks (case II) in piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials subjected to a uniform tension loading were investigated in this paper using the generalized Almansi’s theorem. At the same time, the electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability of air in crack were firstly considered. Through the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of two pairs of dual integral equations, in which the unknown variables were jumps of displacements across crack surfaces, not the dislocation density functions or the complex variable functions. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of displacements across crack surfaces were directly expanded in a series of Jacobi polynomials to obtain the relations among electric displacement intensity factors, magnetic flux intensity factors and stress intensity factors at crack tips.     

Dynamic anti-plane shear of a cracked piezoelectric ceramic

The dynamic theory of antiplane piezoelectricity is applied to solve the problem of a line crack subjected to horizontally polarized shear waves in an arbitrary direction. The problem is formulated by means of integral transforms and reduced to the solution of a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The path-independent integral G is extended here to include piezoelectric effects, and is evaluated at the crack tip to obtain the dynamic energy release rate. Numerical calculations are carried out for the dynamic stress intensity factor and energy release rate. The material is piezoelectric ceramic.     

The anti-plane solution for the edge cracks originating from an arbitrary hole in a piezoelectric material

In this paper, a general and simple way was found to solve the problem of an arbitrary hole with edge cracks in transversely isotropic piezoelectric materials based on the complex variable method and the method of numerical conformal mapping. Firstly, the approximate mapping function which maps the outside of the arbitrary hole and the cracks into the outside of a circular hole is derived after a series of conformal mapping process. Secondly, based on the assumption that the surface of the cracks and hole is electrically impermeable and traction-free, the approximate expressions for the complex potential, fields intensity factors and energy release rates are presented, respectively. Thirdly, under the in-plane electric loading together with the out-plane mechanical loading, the influences of the hole size, crack length and mechanical/electric loading on the fields intensity factors and energy release rates are analyzed. Finally, some particular holes with edge cracks are studied in numerical analysis. The result shows that, the mechanical loading always promotes crack growth, while the electric loading may retard crack growth.