An anti-plane propagating crack in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric strip

Summary A finite crack propagating at constant speed in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip (FGPS) bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric strip is considered. It is assumed that the electroelastic material properties of the FGPS vary exponentially across the thickness of the strip, and that the bimaterial strip is under combined anti-plane mechanical shear and in-plane electrical loads. The analysis is conducted for the electrically unified crack boundary condition, which includes both the traditional permeable and the impermeable ones. By using the Fourier transform, the problem is reduced to the solution of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind. Numerical results for the stress intensity factor and the crack sliding displacement are presented to show the influences of the crack propagation speed, electric loads, FGPS gradation, crack length, electromechanical coupling coefficient, properties of the bonded homogeneous piezoelectric strip and crack location.     

The interaction of two parallel Mode-I limited-permeable cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric material

In this paper, the interaction of two parallel Mode-I limited-permeable cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric material was investigated by using the generalized Almansi's theorem. In the analysis, the electric permittivity of the air inside the crack was considered. The problem was formulated through Fourier transform into two pairs of dual integral equations, in which unknown variables are jumps of displacements across the crack surface. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of displacements across the crack surfaces were directly expanded as a series of Jacobi polynomials. The solution of the present paper shows that the singular stresses and the singular electric displacements at the crack tips in functionally graded piezoelectric materials carry the same forms as those in homogeneous piezoelectric materials; however, the magnitudes of intensity factors depend on the electric permittivity of the air inside the crack and the gradient parameter of functionally graded piezoelectric material properties. It was also revealed that the crack shielding effect is also present in functionally graded piezoelectric materials.     

Analytical solution of multiple moving cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric strip

The dynamic behaviors of several moving cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric (FGP) strip subjected to anti-plane mechanical loading and in-plane electrical loading are investigated. For the first time, the distributed dislocation technique is used to construct the integral equations for FGP materials, in which the unknown variables are the dislocation densities. With the dislocation densities, the field intensity factors are determined. Moreover, the effects of the speed of the crack propagation on the field intensity factors are studied. Several examples are solved, and the numerical results for the stress intensity factor and the electric displacement intensity factor are presented graphically finally.     

Love waves in functionally graded piezoelectric materials

To investigate the features of Love waves in a layered functionally graded piezoelectric structure, the mathematical model is established on the basis of the elastic wave theory, and the WKB method is applied to solve the coupled electromechanical field differential equation. The solutions of the mechanical displacement and electrical potential function are obtained for the piezoelectric layer and elastic substrate. The dispersion relations of Love waves are deduced for electric open and short cases on the free surface respectively. The actual piezoelectric layer–elastic substrate systems are taken into account, and some corresponding numerical examples are proposed comparatively. Thus, the effects of the gradient variation about material constants on the phase velocity, the group velocity, the coupled electromechanical factor and the cutoff frequency are discussed in detail. So the propagation behaviors of Love waves in inhomogeneous medium is revealed, and the dispersion and the anti-dispersion are analyzed. The conclusions are significant both theoretically and practically for the surface acoustic wave devices.     

Crack in functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to elastic surface layers under electromechanical loading

Solved is the problem of a crack in a functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) bonded to two elastic surface layers. It is assumed that the elastic stiffness, piezoelectric constant, and dielectric permittivity of the FGPM vary continuously along the thickness of the strip. The outside layers are under antiplane mechanical loading and in-plane electric loading. The solution involves solving singular integral equations by application of the Gauss–Jacobi integration formula. Numerical calculations are carried out to obtain the energy density factors. Their variations with the geometric, loading and material parameters are shown graphically.     

The behavior of a crack in functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials under anti-plane shear loading

Summary In this paper, the behavior of a crack in functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials subjected to an anti-plane shear loading is investigated. To make the analysis tractable, it is assumed that the material properties vary exponentially with the coordinate parallel to the crack. By using a Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of a pair of dual integral equations in which the unknown variable is the jump of the displacements across the crack surfaces. These equations are solved using the Schmidt method. The relations among the electric displacement, the magnetic flux and the stress field near the crack tips are obtained. Numerical examples are provided to show the effect of the functionally graded parameter on the stress intensity factors of the crack.The authors are grateful for financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Hei Long Jiang Province (A0301), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50232030, 10172030), the Natural Science Foundation with Excellent Young Investigators of Hei Long Jiang Province(JC04-08) and the National Science Foundation with Excellent Young Investigators (10325208).     

Periodic cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric layer bonded to a piezoelectric half-plane

Studied is the problem of a periodic array of cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric material. The properties of the functionally graded piezoelectric strip, such as elastic modulus, piezoelectric constant and dielectric constant, are assumed in exponential forms and vary along the crack direction. The crack surface condition is assumed to be electrically impermeable or permeable. Integral transform and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to the solution of a system of singular integral equations. The effects of the periodic crack spacing, material constants and the geometry parameters on the stress intensity factor, the energy release ratio and the energy density factor are studied.     

On the screw dislocation in a functionally graded piezoelectric plane and half-plane

In this paper closed-form expressions of the electroelastic field induced by a piezoelectric screw dislocation in a functionally graded piezoelectric plane and half-plane are derived. The material properties are assumed to vary exponentially along the x and y-directions. The solution for a screw dislocation in a functionally graded piezoelectric plane is obtained through introduction of two generalized stress functions. The solution for a screw dislocation in a functionally graded piezoelectric half-plane is derived by using the method of image. It is also found that the interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and a circular insulating hole in the functionally graded piezoelectric material can be solved by using series expansion method.     

Wave characteristics in functionally graded piezoelectric hollow cylinders

Based on linear three-dimensional piezoelasticity, the Legendre orthogonal polynomial series expansion approach is used for determining the wave characteristics in hollow cylinders composed of the functionally graded piezoelectric materials (FGPM) with open circuit. The displacement and electric potential components, expanded in a series of Legendre polynomials, are introduced into the governing equations along with position-dependent material constants so that the solution of the wave equation is reduced to an eigenvalue problem. Dispersion curves for FGPM and the corresponding non-piezoelectric hollow cylinders are calculated to show the piezoelectric effect. The influence of the ratio of radius to thickness is discussed. Electric potential and displacement distributions are used to show the piezoelectric effect on the flexural torsional mode. The influence of the polarizing direction on the piezoelectric effect is illustrated. For the radial and axial polarization, the piezoelectric effect reacts mostly on the longitudinal mode. For circumferential polarization, the piezoelectric effect reacts mostly on the torsional mode. In the FGPM hollow cylinder, piezoelectricity can weaken the guided wave dispersion.     

Basic solution of two parallel mode-I permeable cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric materials

The basic solution of two parallel mode-I permeable cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric materials was studied in this paper using the generalized Almansi’s theorem. To make the analysis tractable, it was assumed that the shear modulus varies exponentially along the horizontal axis parallel to the crack. The problem was formulated through a Fourier transform into two pairs of dual integral equations, in which unknown variables are jumps of displacements across the crack surface. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of displacements across the crack surfaces were directly expanded as a series of Jacobi polynomials. The solution of the present paper shows that the singular stresses and the singular electric displacements at the crack tips in functionally graded piezoelectric materials carry the same forms as those in homogeneous piezoelectric materials; however, the magnitudes of intensity factors depend on the gradient of functionally graded piezoelectric material properties. It was also revealed that the crack shielding effect is also present in functionally graded piezoelectric materials.     

Exact electroelastic analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric shells

A paper focuses on implementation of the sampling surfaces (SaS) method for the three-dimensional (3D) exact solutions for functionally graded (FG) piezoelectric laminated shells. According to this method, we introduce inside the nth layer I_n not equally spaced SaS parallel to the middle surface of the shell and choose displacements and electric potentials of these surfaces as basic shell variables. Such choice of unknowns yields, first, a very compact form of governing equations of the FG piezoelectric shell formulation and, second, allows the use of strain–displacement equations, which exactly represent rigid-body motions of the shell in any convected curvilinear coordinate system. It is worth noting that the SaS are located inside each layer at Chebyshev polynomial nodes that leads to a uniform convergence of the SaS method. As a result, the SaS method can be applied efficiently to 3D exact solutions of electroelasticity for FG piezoelectric cross-ply and angle-ply shells with a specified accuracy by using a sufficient number of SaS.     

The transient piezothermoelastic problem of a thick functionally graded thermopiezoelectric strip due to nonuniform heat supply

This paper is concerned with the theoretical treatment of the transient piezothermoelastic problem involving a thick functionally graded thermopiezoelectric strip due to nonuniform heat supply in the width direction. The thermal, thermoelastic and piezoelectric constants of the strip are assumed to vary exponentially in the thickness direction. The transient two-dimensional temperature is analyzed by the methods of Laplace and finite sine transformations. We obtain the exact solution for a simply supported strip under the state of plane strain. Some numerical results for the temperature change, the displacement, the stress and electric potential distributions are presented in figures and table. Furthermore, the influence of the nonhomogeneity of the material and that of the electric boundary conditions are investigated.     

The axisymmetric torsional contact problem of a functionally graded piezoelectric coated half-space

In this article, we study the axisymmetric tor-sional contact problem of a half-space coated with func-tionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) and subjected to a rigid circular punch. It is found that, along the thick-ness direction, the electromechanical properties of FGPMs change exponentially. We apply the Hankel integral trans-form technique and reduce the problem to a singular integral equation, and then numerically determine the unknown con-tact stress and electric displacement at the contact surface. The results show that the surface contact stress, surface azimuthal displacement, surface electric displacement, and inner electromechanical field are obviously dependent on the gradient index of the FGPM coating. It is found that we can adjust the gradient index of the FGPM coating to modify the distributions of the electric displacement and contact stress.     

The dynamic behavior of two parallel symmetric cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials

The dynamic behavior of two parallel symmetric cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic materials subjected to harmonic antiplane shear waves is investigated using the Schmidt method. The present problem can be solved using the Fourier transform and the technique of dual integral equations, in which the unknown variables are jumps of displacements across the crack surfaces, not dislocation density functions. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of displacements across the crack surfaces are directly expanded as a series of Jacobi polynomials. Finally, the relations among the electric, magnetic flux, and dynamic stress fields near crack tips can be obtained. Numerical examples are provided to show the effect of the functionally graded parameter, the distance between the two parallel cracks, and the circular frequency of the incident waves upon the stress, electric displacement, and magnetic flux intensity factors at crack tips.     

Propagation of an anti-plane moving crack in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip

Summary The propagation of an anti-plane moving crack in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip (FGPS) is studied in this paper. The governing equations for the proposed analysis are solved using Fourier cosine transform. The mixed boundary value problems of the anti-plane moving crack, which is assumed to be either impermeable or permeable, are formulated as dual integral equations. By appropriate transformations, the dual integral equations are reduced to Fredholm integral equations of the second kind. For the impermeable crack, the stress intensity factor (SIF) of the crack in the FGPS depends on both the mechanical and electric loading, whereas, the SIF for the permeable crack depends only on the mechanical loading. The results obtained show that the gradient parameter of the FGPS and the velocity of the crack have significant influence on the dynamic SIF.Support from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKU 7081/00E) is acknowledged. Support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 10072041) is also acknowledged.     

Angle cracks in two bonded functionally graded piezoelectric material under anti-plane shear

Consider two bonded functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) with finite height. Each material contains an arbitrary oriented crack. The material properties are assumed in exponential forms in the direction normal to the interface. The crack surface condition is assumed to be electrically impermeable or permeable. Using the Fourier transform technique, the problem can be reduced to a system of singular integral equations, which are then solved numerically by applying the Gauss-Chebyshev integration formula to obtain the stress intensity factors at the crack tips. Numerical calculations are carried out to obtain the energy density factor S and the energy release rate G. In impermeable case, the energy release rate has been shown to be negative as the electric loads are applied. The positive definite characteristic of the energy density factor makes it possible for predicting the fracture behavior of the cracked structure. The influences of the non-homogeneous parameters and crack orientation on the energy density factors at the crack tips are discussed in detail. The results show that the energy density factor at the crack tip will be increased when the crack tip is located within the softer material.     

Electromagnetoelastic behaviors of functionally graded piezoelectric solid cylinder and sphere

Analytical studies on electromagnetoelastic behaviors are presented for the functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) solid cylinder and sphere placed in a uniform magnetic field and subjected to the external pressure and electric loading. When the mechanical, electric and magnetic properties of the material obey an identical power law in the radial direction, the exact displacements, stresses, electric potentials and perturbations of magnetic field vector in the FGPM solid cylinder and sphere are obtained by using the infinitesimal theory of electromagnetoelasticity. Numerical examples also show the significant influence of material inhomogeneity. It is interesting to note that selecting a specific value of inhomogeneity parameter β can optimize the electromagnetoelastic responses, which will be of particular importance in modern engineering designs. The project supported by China postdoctoral science foundation (20060390260) and Hunan Postdoctoral Scientific Program. The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Impact failure prediction of Mode III crack in orthotropic functionally graded strip

Mode III impact of a crack in an orthotropic functionally graded strip is investigated. The shear moduli in two directions of the material are assumed to vary proportionately with gradient. Laplace transform and Fourier cosine transform are used to reduce the problem to solving a Fredholm integral equation. The crack tip stress field is obtained by considering the asymptotic behavior of Bessel function. Energy density factor criterion is applied to obtain the maximum of minimum energy density and direction of crack initiation. Numerical results are given graphically. The effects of orthotropy, nonhomogeneity and height of the strip on the energy density factor are discussed.     

Impact response of a functionally graded piezoelectric plate with a vertical crack

The dynamic fracture problem for a functionally graded piezoelectric plate containing a crack perpendicular to the free boundaries is considered in this study. It is assumed that the electroelastic properties of the medium vary continuously in the thickness direction. Integral transform techniques and dislocation density function are employed to reduce the problem to the solution of a singular integral equation. Mode I dynamic energy density factors are presented for an internal crack as well as an edge crack for various values of dimensionless parameters representing the size and location of the crack and the material nonhomogeneity.     

A penny-shaped interface crack between a functionally graded piezoelectric layer and a homogeneous piezoelectric layer

The problem of a penny-shaped interface crack between a functionally graded piezoelectric layer and a homogeneous piezoelectric layer is investigated. The surfaces of the composite structure are subjected to both mechanical and electrical loads. The crack surfaces are assumed to be electrically impermeable. Integral transform method is employed to reduce the problem to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The stress intensity factor, electric displacement intensity factor and energy release rate are derived, some typical numerical results are plotted graphically. The effects of electrical loads, material nonhomogeneity and crack configuration on the fracture behaviors of the cracked composite structure are analyzed in detail.