Dielectric crack problem for a magnetoelectroelastic strip with functionally graded properties

The paper presents a fracture analysis for an electromagnetically dielectric crack in a functionally graded magnetoelectroelastic strip. It is considered that the material properties are varying exponentially along the width direction. Under the assumption of the in-plane magneto-electro-mechanical loadings, the dielectric crack is simulated by using the semi-permeable crack-face boundary conditions. The Fourier transform technique is applied to solve the boundary-value problem and four coupling singular integral equations are determined. A nonlinear system of algebraic equations is further derived and solved numerically to determine the electromagnetic field inside the crack. Then the field intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, and magnetic induction are given. Through the numerical computations, the effects of the material non-homogeneity and the permeability of crack interior on the electric displacement and the magnetic induction at the crack faces are studied. The variations of the intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, and magnetic induction versus the geometry of the crack, the strip width, and the material non-homogeneity are presented in graphics respectively.     

Dynamic fracture behaviors of cracks in a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic plate

In this paper the dynamic anti-plane problem for a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic plate containing an internal or an edge crack parallel to the graded direction is investigated. The crack is assumed to be magneto-electrically impermeable. Integral transforms and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to Cauchy singular integral equations. Field intensity factors and energy release rate are derived, analyzed and partially calculated numerically. The effects of material graded index, loading combination parameter (including size and direction) and geometry criterion of the plate on the dynamic energy release rate are shown graphically. Numerical results indicate that increasing the graded index can all retard the crack extension, and that both the applied magnetic field loadings and electric field loadings play a dominant role in the dynamic fracture behaviors of crack tips.     

An embedded mixed-mode crack in a functionally graded magnetoelectroelastic infinite medium

This paper focuses on the study of the influence of a mixed-mode crack on the coupled response of a functionally graded magnetoelectroelastic material (FGMEEM). The crack is embedded at the center of a 2D infinite medium subjected to magnetoelectromechanical loads. The material is graded in the direction orthogonal to the crack plane and is modeled as a nonhomogeneous medium with anisotropic constitutive laws. Using Fourier transform, the resulting plane magnetoelectroelasticity equations are converted analytically into singular integral equations which are solved numerically to yield the crack-tip mode I and II stress intensity factors, the electric displacement intensity factors and the magnetic induction intensity factors. The main objective of this paper is to study the influence of material nonhomogeneity on the fields’ intensity factors for the purpose of gaining better understanding on the behavior of graded magnetoelectroelastic materials.     

BIEM analysis of dynamically loaded anti-plane cracks in graded piezoelectric finite solids

Anti-plane cracks in finite functionally graded piezoelectric solids under time-harmonic loading are studied via a non-hypersingular traction based boundary integral equation method (BIEM). The formulation allows for a quadratic variation of the material properties in two directions. The boundary integral equation (BIE) system is treated by using the frequency dependent fundamental solution based on Radon transforms. Its numerical solution provides the displacements and tractions on the external boundary as well as the crack opening displacements from which the mechanical stress intensity factor (SIF) and the electrical displacement intensity factor (EDIF) are determined. Several examples for single and multiple straight and curved cracks demonstrate the applicability of the method and show the influence of the different system parameters.     

Dynamic fracture parameters and constraint effects in functionally graded syntactic epoxy foams

Functionally graded syntactic foam sheets are developed by dispersing microballoons in epoxy for studying dynamic fracture behavior under low velocity impact loading. The volume fraction of microballoons is graded linearly over the width of the sheets. The mode-I crack initiation and growth behaviors are studied using reflection coherent gradient sensing technique and high-speed photography in samples with crack on the compliant and stiff sides and oriented along the compositional gradient. Crack growth along the gradient in each case shows sudden acceleration followed by steady state growth and deceleration during the window of observation. In both cases, the crack accelerations are similar while crack decelerations show differences. The dynamic stress intensity factor history prior to crack initiation in each case shows a rapid increase at different rates with the crack on the compliant side of the graded sheet experiencing higher rate of loading relative to the one with the crack on the stiffer side. Post-crack initiation stress intensity factor histories suggest increasing fracture toughness with crack growth in the graded sample with the crack on the compliant side while a decreasing trend is seen when the crack is on the stiffer side.Optical measurements are supplemented by finite element simulations for studying crack tip constraint effects on fracture behavior of graded foam sheets. Computed plane strain constraints in graded configurations are essentially identical to the homogeneous counterpart and the computed stress intensity factors obtained from plane stress elasto-dynamic analyses of the graded foams correlate well with the experimental measurements prior to crack initiation. The computed T-stress histories however, show an earlier loss of negative crack tip constraint in case of the graded foam sample with a crack on the compliant side. This correlates well with the higher crack tip loading rate and earlier crack initiation suggesting a possible role of in-plane constraint on fracture of graded foam. The coincidence of the time rate of change of in-plane constraint parameter becoming stationary close to experimentally observed crack initiation times are noted.     

Elliptical crack normal to functionally graded interface of bonded solids

This paper presents an analysis of an elliptical crack that is perpendicular to a functionally graded interfacial zone between two fully bonded solids. The functionally graded interfacial zone is treated as a non-homogeneous solid layer with its elastic modulus varying in the thickness direction. A generalized Kelvin solution based boundary element method is employed for the calculation of the stress intensity factors associated with the three-dimensional crack problem. The elliptical crack surface is subject to either uniform normal traction or uniform shear traction. The stress intensity factors are examined by taking into account the effects of the non-homogeneity parameter and thickness of the functionally graded interfacial zone, as well as the crack distance to the zone. The SIF values are further incorporated into the S-criterion for prediction of crack growth. The paper presents the most possible direction and location of the elliptical crack growth under an inclined tensile (or compressive) load. The paper further presents results of the critical external loads that would cause the elliptical crack to grow at the most possible location and along the most possible direction. The paper also examines the effects of external load direction and material and geometrical parameters on the critical loads.     

Anti-plane fracture of a functionally graded material strip

This paper considers the anti-plane (or mode III) crack problem in a functionally graded material strip. The shear modulus of the strip is considered for a class of functional forms for which the equilibrium equation has 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 studied. The results are tabulated and plotted to show the effect of the material nonhomogeneity and crack location on the stress intensity factors.     

Thermoelastic buckling behavior of thick functionally graded rectangular plates

Thermoelastic buckling behavior of thick rectangular plate made of functionally graded materials is investigated in this article. The material properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness of the plate according to a power-law distribution. Three types of thermal loading as uniform temperature raise, nonlinear and linear temperature distribution through the thickness of plate are considered. The coupled governing stability equations are derived based on the Reddy’s higher-order shear deformation plate theory using the energy method. The resulted stability equations are decoupled and solved analytically for the functionally graded rectangular plates with two opposite edges simply supported subjected to different types of thermal loading. A comparison of the present results with those available in the literature is carried out to establish the accuracy of the presented analytical method. The influences of power of functionally graded material, plate thickness, aspect ratio, thermal loading conditions and boundary conditions on the critical buckling temperature of aluminum/alumina functionally graded rectangular plates are investigated and discussed in detail. The critical buckling temperatures of thick functionally graded rectangular plates with various boundary conditions are reported for the first time and can be served as benchmark results for researchers to validate their numerical and analytical methods in the future.     

The transient fracture behavior for a functionally graded layered structure subjected to an in-plane impact load

The transient fracture behavior of a functionally graded layered structure subjected to an in-plane impact load is investigated. The studied structure is composed of two homogeneous layers and a functionally graded interlayer with a crack perpendicular to the boundaries. The impact load is applied on the face of the crack. Fourier transform and Laplace transform methods are used to formulate the present problem in terms of a singular integral equation in Laplace transform domain. Considering variations of parameters such as the nonhomogeneity constant, the thickness ratio and the crack length, the dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) in time domain are studied and some meaningful conclusions are obtained.The project supported by the National Science Foundation for Excellent Young Investigators (10325208), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10432030) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2004036018)The English text was polished by Ron Marshall.     

Dynamic fracture analysis of a penny-shaped crack in a magnetoelectroelastic layer

This paper analyzes the dynamic magnetoelectroelastic behavior induced by a penny-shaped crack in a magnetoelectroelastic layer subjected to prescribed stress or prescribed displacement at the layer surfaces. Two kinds of crack surface conditions, i.e., magnetoelectrically impermeable and permeable cracks, are adopted. The Laplace and Hankel transform techniques are employed to reduce the problem to Fredholm integral equations. Field intensity factors are obtained and discussed. Numerical results of the crack opening displacement (COD) intensity factors are presented and the effects of magnetoelectromechanical loadings, crack surface conditions and crack configuration on crack propagation and growth are examined. The results indicate that among others, the fracture behaviors of magnetoelectroelastic materials are affected by the sizes and directions of the prescribed magnetic and/or electric fields, and the effects are strongly dependent on the elastic boundary conditions.     

Transient response of the crack-tip field in a magnetoelectroelastic half-space with a functionally graded coating under impacts

This paper has twofold aims. One is to study the dynamic response of a magnetoelectroelastic half-space with functionally graded coating containing crack at the interface when subjected to sudden impacts. Two different loading positions, where the material and crack surfaces are loaded respectively, are considered. By using the integral transform method, the problem is reduced to solving singular integral equations. Obtained numerical results show that the overshoots of dynamic fracture parameters are strongly amplified or reduced depending on negative or positive gradient, respectively for the case of the material surface being loaded suddenly. This implies that a functionally graded coating with a positive gradient index is preferable in engineering design due to its capability of preventing the structure from cracking. The second objective is to give a comparison of relevant dynamic parameters such as the intensity factors of stress and strain, energy release rate, and energy density factor, and their features are elucidated under dynamic combined loadings. It indicates that the strain intensity factor can overcome the drawbacks of the rest parameters, and may be chosen as an effective fracture parameter, while three others cannot be adopted as fracture criteria to describe the feature of onset of crack growth.     

Interaction integrals for fracture analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric materials

This paper presents domain form of the interaction integrals based on three independent formulations for computation of the stress intensity factors and electric displacement intensity factor for cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric materials. Conservation integrals of J-type are derived based on the governing equations for piezoelectric media and the crack tip asymptotic fields of homogeneous piezoelectric medium as auxiliary fields. Each of the formulation differs in the way auxiliary fields are imposed in the evaluation of interaction integral and each of them results in a consistent form of the interaction integral in the sense that extra terms naturally appears in their derivation to compensate for the difference in the chosen crack tip asymptotic fields of homogeneous and functionally graded piezoelectric medium. The additional terms play an important role of ensuring domain independence of the presented interaction integrals. Comparison of the numerically evaluated intensity factors through the three consistent formulations with those obtained using displacement extrapolation method is presented by means of two examples.     

Thermally induced fracture of a smart functionally graded composite structure

Discussed is the fracture behavior of a cracked smart actuator on a substrate under thermal load. The actuator is made of piezoelectric material with functionally graded material (FGM) properties. Integral transform method is used to reduce the problem to the solution of a set of singular integral equations and is solved numerically. This paper is completed by including graphical plots of the thermal flow, stress and electric displacement intensity factors around the crack for different crack positions and material gradients. Directions of crack initiation are also predicted by using the energy density criterion.     

Dynamic response for functionally graded materials with penny-shaped cracks

This paper provides a method for studying the penny-shaped cracks configuration in functionally graded material(FGM) structures subjected to dynamic or steady loading. It is assumed that the FGMs are transversely isotropic and all the material properties only depend on the axial coordinatez. In the analysis, the elastic region is treated as a number of layers. The material properties are taken to be constants for each layer. By utilizing the Laplace transform and Hankel transform technique, the general solutions for the layers are derived. The dual integral equations are then obtained by introducing the mechanical boundary and layer interface conditions via the flexibility/stiffness matrix approach. The stress intensity factors are computed by solving dual integral equations numerically in Laplace transform domain. The solution in time domain is obtained by utilizing numerical Laplace inverse. The main advantage of the present model is its ability for treating multiple crack configurations in FGMs with arbitrarily distributed and continuously varied material properties by dividing the FGMs into a number of layers with the properties of each layer slightly different from one another. This work was supported by Failure Mechanics Laboratory of State Education Commission and the Post-doctor Research Fund of China.     

Surface contact behavior of functionally graded thermoelectric materials indented by a conducting punch

The contact problem for thermoelectric materials with functionally graded properties is considered. The material properties, such as the electric conductivity, the thermal conductivity, the shear modulus, and the thermal expansion coefficient, vary in an exponential function. Using the Fourier transform technique, the electro-thermoelastic problems are transformed into three sets of singular integral equations which are solved numerically in terms of the unknown normal electric current density, ...     

Dynamic internal crack problem of a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic strip

In this paper the dynamic anti-plane problem for a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic strip containing an internal crack perpendicular to the boundary is investigated. The crack is assumed to be either magneto-electrically impermeable or permeable. Integral transforms and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to Cauchy singular integral equations. Numerical results show the effects of loading combination parameter, material gradient parameter and crack configuration on the dynamic response. With the magneto-electrically permeable assumption, both the magnetical and electrical impacts have no contribution to the crack tip field singularity. However, with the impermeable assumption, both the applied magnetical loads and electrical loads play a dominant role in the dynamic fracture behavior of crack tips. And for the two kinds of crack surface conditions, increasing the graded index can all retard the crack extension.     

Dynamic fracture analysis of an annular interfacial crack between dissimilar magnetoelectroelastic layers

Transient response of an annular interfacial crack between dissimilar magnetoelectroelastic layers under impacts is investigated. On the crack surface, magnetoelectrically impermeable boundary condition is adopted. Using Laplace and Hankel transform techniques, the mixed boundary value problem is reduced to a system of singular integral equations. The integral equations are further reduced to a system of algebraic equations with the aid of Jacobi polynomials. The dynamic field intensity factor and dynamic energy release rate are determined. Numerical results reveal the effects of electric or magnetic loadings and material parameters of composite on crack propagation and growth.     

Dynamic behavior of two collinear interface cracks between two dissimilar functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic material strips

The dynamic interaction of two collinear interface cracks between two dissimilar functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic material strips subjected to the anti-plane shear harmonic stress waves was investigated. By using the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of a pair of triple integral equations in which the unknown variable is jump of displacement across the crack surfaces. These equations are solved using the Schmidt method. Numerical examples are provided to show the effect of the functionally graded parameter, the circular frequency of the incident waves and the thickness of the strip upon stress, electric displacement and magnetic flux intensity factors of cracks.     

Dynamic curving cracks in functionally graded materials under thermo-mechanical loading

Mixed-mode dynamic crack growth along an arbitrarily smoothly varying path in functionally graded materials (FGMs) under thermo-mechanical loading is studied. The property gradation in FGMs is considered by varying shear-modulus, mass density, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion exponentially along the gradation direction. Asymptotic analysis in conjunction with displacement potentials is used to develop the stress fields around propagating cracks in FGMs. Asymptotic temperature fields are developed first for the exponential variation of thermal conductivity and later these temperature fields are used to derive thermo-mechanical stress fields for a curving crack in FGMs. Using these thermo-mechanical stress fields, various components of the stresses are developed and the effect of curvature parameters, temperature and gradation on these stresses are discussed. Finally, using the minimum strain energy density criterion, the effect of curvature parameters, crack-tip speeds, non-homogeneity values and temperature gradients on crack growth directions are determined and discussed.