Damage analysis of tetragonal perovskite structure ceramics implicated by asymptotic field solutions and boundary conditions

Cracking of ceramics with tetragonal perovskite grain structure is known to appear at different sites and scale level. The multiscale character of damage depends on the combined effects of electromechanical coupling, prevailing physical parameters and boundary conditions. These detail features are exhibited by application of the energy density criterion with judicious use of the mode I asymptotic and full field solution in the range of r/a=10⁻⁴ to 10⁻² where r and a are, respectively, the distance to the crack tip and half crack length. Very close to the stationary crack tip, bifurcation is predicted resembling the dislocation emission behavior invoked in the molecular dynamics model. At the macroscopic scale, crack growth is predicted to occur straight ahead with two yield zones to the sides. A multiscale feature of crack tip damage is provided for the first time. Numerical values of the relative distances and bifurcation angles are reported for the PZT-4 ceramic subjected to different electric field to applied stress ratio and boundary conditions that consist of the specification of electric field/mechanical stress, electric displacement/mechanical strain, and mixed conditions. To be emphasized is that the multiscale character of damage in piezoceramics does not appear in general. It occurs only for specific combinations of the external and internal field parameters, elastic/piezoelectric/dielectric constants and specified boundary conditions.     

Effect of a biasing electric field on the propagation of symmetric Lamb waves in piezoelectric plates

This paper is concerned with the effect of a biasing electric field on the propagation of Lamb waves in a piezoelectric plate. On the basis of three dimensional linear elastic equations and piezoelectric constitutive relations, the differential equations of motion under a biasing electric field are obtained and solved. Due to the symmetry of the plate, there are symmetric and antisymmetric modes with respect to the median plane of the piezoelectric plate. According to the characteristics of symmetric modes (odd potential state) and antisymmetric modes (even potential state), the phase velocity equations of symmetric and antisymmetric modes of Lamb wave propagation are obtained for both electrically open and shorted cases. The effect of a biasing electric field on the phase velocity, electromechanical coupling coefficient, stress field and mechanical displacement of symmetric and antisymmetric Lamb wave modes are discussed in this paper and an accompanying paper respectively. It is shown that the biasing electric field has significant effect on the phase velocity and electromechanical coupling coefficient, the time delay owning to the velocity change is useful for high voltage measurement and temperature compensation, the increase in the electromechanical coupling coefficient can be used to improve the efficiency of transduction.     

Electroelasticity of polymer networks

A multiscale analysis of the electromechanical coupling in elastic dielectrics is conducted, starting from the discrete monomer level through the polymer chain and up to the macroscopic level. Three models for the local relations between the molecular dipoles and the electric field that can fit a variety of dipolar monomers are considered. The entropy of the network is accounted for within the framework of statistical mechanics with appropriate kinematic and energetic constraints. At the macroscopic level closed-form explicit expressions for the behaviors of amorphous dielectrics and isotropic polymer networks are determined, none of which admits the commonly assumed linear relation between the polarization and the electric field. The analysis reveals the dependence of the macroscopic coupled behavior on three primary microscopic parameters: the model assumed for the local behavior, the intensity of the local dipole, and the length of the chain. We show how these parameters influence the directional distributions of the monomers and the hence the resulting overall response of the network. In particular, the dependences of the polarization and the polarization induced stress on the deformation of the dielectric are illustrated. More surprisingly, we also reveal a dependence of the stress on the electric field which stems from the kinematic constraint imposed on the chains.     

Fatigue crack growth induced by domain switching under electromechanical load in ferroelectrics

Reliability calls for a better understanding of the failure of ferroelectric ceramics. The fracture and fatigue of ferroelectric ceramics under an electric field or a combined electric and mechanical loading are investigated. The small-scale domain-switching model is modified to analyze failure due to fracture and fatigue. Effects of anisotropy and electromechanical load coupling are taken into account. Analytical expressions are obtained for domain-switching regions near the crack tip such that of 90° domain switching can be distinguished from 180° domain switching in addition to different initial poling directions. The crack tip stress intensity variation of ferroelectric ceramics due to the domain switching is analyzed. A positive electric field tends to enhance the propagation of an insulating crack perpendicular to the poling direction, while a negative field impedes it. Fatigue crack growth under various coupling loads and effects of the stress field and electric field on near field stress intensity variation are analyzed. Predicted crack growth versus cyclic electric field agrees well with experiment.     

Three dimensional phase field study on the thickness effect of ferroelectric polymer thin film

The electromechanical behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] ferroelectric thin film was investigated using the three dimensional (3D) phase-field method. Various energetic contributions, including elastic, electrostatic, and domain wall energy were taken into account in the variational functional of the phase field model. Evolution of the microscopic domain structures of P (VDF-TrFE) polymer film was simulated. Effects of the in-plane residual stress, the film thickness and externally applied electric bias field on the electromechanical properties of the film were explored. The obtained numerical results showed that the macroscopic responses of the electric hysteresis loops are sensitive to the residual stress and electric bias field. It was also found that thickness has a great effect on the electric hysteresis loops and remanent polarization.     

Three dimensional dynamic electromechanical constitutive relations for ferroelectric materials

We propose, in this paper, three dimensional constitutive relations suitable for describing the dynamic electromechanical responses of ferroelectric materials. Our approach is phenomenological and is based on the assumptions that the macroscopic electrical properties can be represented by electric dipoles whose magnitude and direction can be altered by external stimuli. The constitutive relations for the stress and the electric displacement take into account the transient and instantaneous responses of the dipole moments and the transient response of domain switching. A specific respesentation of the theory is also derived; this representation is suitable for studying the responses of ferroelectic materials to dynamic mechanical loading and rapidly applied electric field.     

A principle of virtual work for combined electrostatic and mechanical loading of materials

The equations governing mechanics and electrostatics are formulated for a system in which the material deformations and electrostatic polarizations are arbitrary. A mechanical/electrostatic energy balance is formulated for this situation in terms of the electric enthalpy, in which the electric potential and the electric field are the independent variables, and charge and electric displacement, respectively, are the conjugate thermodynamic forces. This energy statement is presented in the form of a principle of virtual work (PVW), in which external virtual work is equated to internal virtual work. The resulting expression involves an internal material virtual work in which (1) material polarization is work-conjugate to increments of electric field, and (2) a combination of Cauchy stress, Maxwell stress and a product of polarization and electric field is work-conjugate to increments of strain. This PVW is valid for all material types, including those that are conservative and those that are dissipative. Such a virtual work expression is the basis for a rigorous formulation of a finite element method for problems involving the deformation and electrostatic charging of materials, including electroactive polymers and switchable ferroelectrics. The internal virtual work expression is used to develop the structure of conservative constitutive laws governing, for example, electroactive elastomers and piezoelectric materials, thereby determining the form of the Maxwell or electrostatic stress. It is shown that the Maxwell or electrostatic stress has a form fully constrained by the constitutive law and cannot be chosen independently of it. The structure of constitutive laws for dissipative materials, such as viscoelastic electroactive polymers and switchable ferroelectrics, is similarly determined, and it is shown that the Maxwell or electrostatic stress for these materials is identical to that for a material having the same conservative response when the dissipative processes in the material are shut off. The form of the internal virtual work is used further to develop the structure of dissipative constitutive laws controlled by rearrangement of material internal variables.     

压电智能复合材料层合梁的力电耦合模型及层间应力分析

由于非凡的物理性能,石墨烯纳米片(GPL)被认为是最有吸引力的复合材料增强材料之一.GPL增强材料可以明显提高聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)压电性能和力学性能.在力电载荷作用下,对含均匀石墨烯薄片增强(GSR)智能压电复合材料层合梁层间应力预测至关重要.若对受到力电耦合作用且层与层之间材料性能突变的压电层合梁层间剪切变形预测有误,则其层间应力过大可能导致层间失效.因此,论文提出一种适于分析此类问题且满足层与层之间相容性条件的有效力电耦合模型,用于含GSR致动器的复合材料层合梁层间应力分析.应用Reissner混合变分原理(RMVT),可以提高考虑力电耦合效应的横向剪应力预测精度.三维(3D)弹性理论和所选模型计算结果将用于评估所提梁模型性能.此外,还从力电载荷、压电层厚度、石墨烯体积分数和长厚比等方面对含GSR致动器复合材料层合梁力学响应特性进行了系统的研究.     

Plane problems in piezoelectric media with elliptic inclusion

I.IntroductionPiezoelectricmedia,asa"ex\'typeoffullctionalmaterial.arex'idel}'appliedtomanytechnologicalfieldsduetoitselectronlechallicalcouplillgeffect.Defects.likethatofothermaterials.arenotlimitedtocracks.x'oidsandinclusionsillpiezoelectricmaterialsorelements.Yet,stressconcentrationsornoll-ullitbrllldistl-ibutionsofelectricfieldillducedbythosedefectsareoneofthehe}l'filctorswllicllwouldleadpiezoelectricstructurestonon-normalfailure.Therel'ore.itisofgrealimportancetostudythepropertiesofthos…     

A coupled refined high-order global-local theory and finite element model for static electromechanical response of smart multilayered/sandwich beams

In the present study, a coupled refined high-order global-local theory is developed for predicting fully coupled behavior of smart multilayered/sandwich beams under electromechanical conditions. The proposed theory considers effects of transverse normal stress and transverse flexibility which is important for beams including soft cores or beams with drastic material properties changes through depth. Effects of induced transverse normal strains through the piezoelectric layers are also included in this study. In the presence of non-zero in-plane electric field component, all the kinematic and stress continuity conditions are satisfied at layer interfaces. In addition, for the first time, conditions of non-zero shear and normal tractions are satisfied even while the bottom or the top layer of the beam is piezoelectric. A combination of polynomial and exponential expressions with a layerwise term containing first order differentiation of electrical unknowns is used to introduce the in-plane displacement field. Also, the transverse displacement field is formulated utilizing a combination of continuous piecewise fourth-order polynomial with a layerwise representation of electrical unknowns. Finally, a quadratic electric potential is used across the thickness of each piezoelectric layer. It is worthy to note that in the proposed shear locking-free finite element formulation, the number of mechanical unknowns is independent of the number of layers. Excellent correlation has been found between the results obtained from the proposed formulation for thin and thick piezoelectric beams with those resulted from the three-dimensional theory of piezoelasticity. Moreover, the proposed finite element model is computationally economic.     

Effect of electric fields on fracture behavior of ferroelectric ceramics

The asymptotic problem of a semi-infinite crack perpendicular to the poling direction in a ferroelectric ceramic subjected to combined electric and mechanical loading is analyzed to investigate effect of electric fields on fracture behavior. Electromechanical coupling induced by the piezoelectric effect is neglected in this paper. The shape and size of the switching zone is shown to depend strongly on the relative magnitude between the applied electric field and stress field as well as on the ratio of the coercive electric field to the yield electric field. A universal relation between the crack tip stress intensity factor and the applied intensity factors of stress and electric field under small-scale conditions is obtained from the solution of the switching zone. It is found that the ratio of the coercive electric field to the yield electric field plays a significant role in determining the enhancement or reduction of the crack tip stress intensity factor. The fracture toughness variation of ferroelectrics under combined electric and mechanical loading is also discussed.     

Antiplane mechanical and inplane electric time-dependent load applied to two coplanar cracks in piezoelectric ceramic material

This work is concerned with the dynamic response of two coplanar cracks in a piezoelectric ceramic under antiplane mechanical and inplane electric time-dependent load. The cracks are assumed to act either as an insulator or as a conductor. Laplace and Fourier transforms are used to reduce the mixed boundary value problems to Cauchy-type singular integral equations in Laplace transform domain. A numerical Laplace inversion algorithm is used to determine the dynamic stress and electric displacement factors that depend on time and geometry. A normalized equivalent parameter describing the ratio of the equivalent magnitude of electric load to that of mechanical load is introduced in the numerical computation of the dynamic stress intensity factor (DSIF) which has a similar trend as that for the pure elastic material. The results show that the dynamic electric field will impede or enhance crack propagation in a piezoelectric ceramic material at different stages of the dynamic electromechanical load. Moreover, the electromechanical response is greatly affected by the ratio of the crack length to the ligament between the cracks. The stress and electric displacement intensity factor can be combined by the energy density factor or function to address the fracture of piezoelectric materials under the combined influence of electromechanical loading.     

Thermomechanical Multiscale Constitutive Modeling: Accounting for Microstructural Thermal Effects

In this work we present a thermomechanical multiscale constitutive model for materials with microstructure. In these materials thermal effects at microscale have an impact on the effective macroscopic stress. As a result, it turns out that the homogenized stress depends upon the macroscopic temperature and its gradient. In order to allow this interplay to be thermodynamically valid, we resort to a macroscopic extended thermodynamics whose elements are derived from the microscopic behavior using homogenization concepts. Hence, the thermodynamics implications of this new class of multiscale models are discussed. A variational approach based on the Hill–Mandel Principle of Macro-homogeneity, and which makes use of the volume averaging concept over a local representative volume element (RVE), is employed to derive the thermal and mechanical equilibrium problems at the RVE level and the corresponding homogenization expressions for the effective heat flux and stress. The material behavior at the RVE level is described through standard phenomenological constitutive models. To sum up, the novel contribution of the model presented here is that it allows to include the microscopic temperature fluctuation field, obtained from the multiscale thermal analysis, in the micro-mechanical problem at the RVE level while keeping thermodynamic consistency.     

Interacting circular inclusions in antiplanepiezoelectricity

The problem of multiple piezoelectric circular inclusions, which are perfectly bondedto a piezoelectric matrix, is analyzed in the framework of linear piezoelectricity. Both the matrixand the inclusions are assumed to possess the symmetry of a hexagonal crystal in the 6 mm classand subject to electromechanical loadings (singularities) which produce in-plane electric fieldsand out-of-plane displacement. Based upon the complex variable theory and the method ofsuccessive approximations, the solution of electric field and displacement field either in theinclusions or in the matrix is expressed in terms of explicit series form. Stress and electric fieldconcentrations are studied in detail which are dependent on the mismatch in the materialconstants, the distance between two circular inclusions, and the magnitude of electromechanicalloadings. It is shown that, when the two inclusions approach each other, the oscillatory behaviorof the stress and electric field can be induced in the inclusion as the matrix and the inclusions arepoled in the opposite directions. This important phenomenon can be utilized to build a verysensitive sensor in a piezoelectric composite material system. The present derived solution canalso be applied to the inclusion problem with straight boundaries. The problem associated withthree-material media under electromechanical sources is also considered.     

Transient response of a piezoelectric ceramic with two coplanar cracks under electromechanical impact

The transient response of two coplanar cracks in a piezoelectric ceramic under antiplane mechanical and inplane electric impacting loads is investigated in the present paper. Laplace and Fourier transforms are used to reduce the mixed boundary value problems to Cauchy-type singular integral equations in Laplace transform domain, which are solved numerically. The dynamic stress and electric displacement factors are obtained as the functions of time and geometry parameters. The present study shows that the presence of the dynamic electric field will impede or enhance the propagation of the crack in piezoelectric ceramics at different stages of the dynamic electromechanical load. Moreover, the electromechanical response is greatly affected by the ratio of the space of the cracks and the crack length.     

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.     

恒磁场作用下压磁/压电半导体复合圆柱壳的耦合响应分析

本文针对由压磁材料和压电半导体材料组成的无限长复合圆柱壳结构,理论研究了其在径向恒磁场作用下结构内的多场耦合力学响应问题。为解析求解方便,文中分别采用单向耦合法和线性全耦合法,导出复合圆柱壳内位移场、电场、载流子等物理量的解析表达式。利用导出的解析表达式,数值分析了磁场大小和半导体层厚度比对结构内电势、电场和载流子的影响。计算结果表明：磁场和厚度比均可用来有效调控半导体层内的电学量,复合圆柱壳结构的厚度比有一个最优区间。     

恒磁场作用下压磁/压电半导体复合圆柱壳的耦合响应分析

论文针对由压磁材料和压电半导体材料组成的无限长复合圆柱壳结构,理论研究了其在径向恒磁场作用下结构内的多场耦合力学响应问题.为解析求解方便,文中分别采用单向耦合法和线性全耦合法,导出复合圆柱壳内位移场、电场、载流子等物理量的解析表达式.利用导出的解析表达式,数值分析了磁场大小和半导体层厚度比对结构内电势、电场和载流子的影响.计算结果表明:磁场和厚度比均可用来有效调控半导体层内的电学量,复合圆柱壳结构的厚度比有一个最优区间.     

Energy density theory formulation and interpretation of cracking behavior for piezoelectric ceramics

Any attempt made to separate energy into electrical and mechanical parts may lead to inconsistencies as they do not necessarily decouple. This is illustrated by application of the energy density function in the linear theory of piezoelasticity. By assuming that a critical energy density function prevails at the onset of crack initiation, it is possible to establish the relative size of an inner and outer damage zone around the crack tip; they correspond to the ligaments at failure caused by pure electric field and pure mechanical load. On physical grounds, the relative size of these zones must depend on the relative magnitude of the mechanical and electrical load. Hence, they can vary in size depending on the electromechanical material and damage resistance properties. Numerical results are obtained for the PZT-4, PZT-5H, and P-7 piezoelectric ceramics. These two ligaments for the two damage zones may coincide for appropriate values of the applied electrical field and mechanical load.Explicit expression of the energy density factor S is derived showing the mixed mode electromechanical coupling effects. The factor S can increase or decrease depending on the direction of the applied electric field with reference to the poling direction. This is in contrast to the result obtained from the energy release rate quantity, which remains unchanged for electric field in the direction of poling or against it.