Anomalies associated with energy release parameters for cracks in piezoelectric materials

For a central crack in a piezoelectric plate, the mode-I stress intensity factor (K_I), electric displacement intensity factor (K_D), energy release rates (G, G_M) and energy density factor (S) are obtained from the finite element results. For the impermeable crack, the numerical results of K_I and K_D are coupled; this error is contrary to the uncoupled analytical solutions. The error has little effect on the total energy release rate G and energy density factor S, but in some cases, large errors in the mechanical energy release rate G_M are observed. G is global while SED is local. Also G is negative which defies physics where energy cannot be created while crack attempts to extend as implied by G. Computations should be made for the J-integral and also show that J becomes negative. What this shows is that the global fracture energy criterion is not suitable to address the local release of energy because it includes the overall energy which are irrelevant to fracture initiation being a local behavior. In addition, the case study shows that the energy density theory is the better fracture criterion for the piezoelectric material. According to the results of S, it retards the crack growth when the external electric field and piezoelectric poling are on opposite directions. This conclusion agrees with analytical and experimental evidence in the past references.     

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).     

The interaction between crack and electric dipole of piezoelectricity

Discrete dipoles located near the crack tip play an important role in nonlinear electric field induced fracture of piezoelectric ceramics. A physico-mathematical model of dipole is constructed of two generalized concentrated piezoelectric forces with equal density and opposite sign. The interaction between crack and electric dipole in piezoelectricity is analyzed. The closed form solutions, including those for stress and electric displacement, crack opening displacement and electric potential, are obtained. The function of piezoelectric anisotropic direction,p _a (θ)=cosθ+p _a sinθ, can be used to express the influence of a dipole's direction. In the case that a dipole locates near crack tip, the piezoelectric stress intensity factor is a power function with −3/2 index of the distance between dipole and crack tip. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 10072033)     

Magneto-electro-elastic antiplane analysis of a bimaterial BaTiO3–CoFe2O4 composite wedge with an interface crack

The antiplane analysis is made for a bimaterial BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ composite wedge containing an interface crack. The coupled magneto-electro-elastic field is induced by the piezoelectric/piezomagnetic BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ composite materials. For the crack problems, the intensity factors of stress, strain, electric displacement, electric field, magnetic induction and magnetic field at crack tips are derived analytically. Also, the energy density criterion is applied to predict the fracture behavior of the interface crack. The numerical results also show that the energy release rate for a crack in a single wedge is negative.     

Finite element analyses of cracks in piezoelectric structures: a survey

Piezoelectric materials have widespread applications in modern technical areas such as mechatronics, smart structures or microsystem technology, where they serve as sensors or actuators. For the assessment of strength and reliability of piezoelectric structures under combined electrical and mechanical loading, the existence of cracklike defects plays an important role. Meanwhile, piezoelectric fracture mechanics has been established quite well, but its application to realistic crack configurations and loading situations in piezoelectric structures requires the use of numerical techniques as finite element methods (FEM) or boundary element methods (BEM). The aim of this paper is to review the state of the art of FEM to compute the coupled electromechanical boundary value problem of cracks in 2D and 3D piezoelectric structures under static and dynamic loading. In order to calculate the relevant fracture parameters very precisely and efficiently, the numerical treatment must account for the singularity of the mechanical and electrical fields at crack tips. The following specialized techniques are presented in detail (1) special singular crack tip elements, (2) determination of intensity factors K _I –K _IV from near tip fields, (3) modified crack closure integral, (4) computation of the electromechanical J-integral, and (5) exploitation of interaction integrals. Special emphasis is devoted to a realistic modeling of the dielectric medium inside the crack, leading to specific electric crack face boundary conditions. The accuracy, efficiency, and applicability of these techniques are examined by various example problems and discussed with respect to their advantages and drawbacks for practical applications.     

刚度微分法计算压电材料平面断裂问题

把计算应变能释放率的刚度微分法推广到压电材料平面断裂问题．在此基础上，利用压电材料平面断裂问题的有限元数值解作为真实场，用Ｓｏｓａ的平面问题裂端渐近解作为辅助场，由推广的交互Ｍ积分法求得了应力强度因子ＫＩ，ＫＩＩ和电位移强度因子ＫＩＶ．算例表明，计算结果与理论解符合得很好     

Damage accumulation and crack growth in bilinear materials with softening: Application of strain energy density theory

A pseudo-elastic damage-accumulation model is developed by application of the strain energy density theory. The three-point bending specimen is analyzed to illustrate the crack growth characteristics according to a linear elastic softening constitutive law that is typical of concrete materials. Damage accumulation is accounted for by the decrease of elastic modulus and fracture toughness. Both of these effects are assessed by means of the strain energy density functions in the elements around a slowly moving crack. The rate of change of the strain energy density factor S with crack growth as expressed by the relation dS/da = constant is shown to describe the failure behavior of concrete. Results are obtained for different loading steps that yield different slopes of lines in an S versus a (crack length) plot. The lines rotate about the common intersect in an anti-clockwise direction as the load steps are increased. The intersect shifts upward according to increase in the specimen size. In this way, the combined interaction of material properties, load steps and specimen geometry and size are easily analyzed in terms of the failure mode or behavior that can change from the very brittle to the ductile involving stable crack growth. An upper limit on specimen or structural size is established beyond which stable crack growth ceases to occur and failure corresponds to unstable crack propagation or catastrophic fracture. The parameters that control the failure mode are the threshold values of the strain energy density function (dW/dV)_c and the strain energy density factor S_c.     

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.     

压电材料中的Bueckner功共轭积分及和J积分M积分的关系

研究横观各向同性压电材料中裂纹问题,提出了Bueckner功共轭积分在这类材料中的表达式：并通过引出两类辅助的应力-位移-电位移-电势场,证明功共轭积分和这类材料中的J积分和M积分仍然存在简单的两倍关系由此,各类在脆性材料断裂问题中已广泛应用的权函数方法可顺理成章地推广到压电材料的研究中来．这对独立地确定电位移强度因子和经典的I、II型应力强度因子提供了有力的数学上的工具．进而通过计算机械应变能释放率对压电材料中裂纹的稳定做出判断．     

Crack driving force and energy-momentum tensor in electroelastodynamic fracture

The energy flux integral and the energy-momentum tensor for studying the crack driving force in electroelastodynamic fracture are formulated within the framework of the nonlinear theory of coupled electric, thermal and mechanical fields based on fundamental principles of thermodynamics. This formulation lays a foundation for in-depth understanding of the fracture behavior of piezoelectric materials. Remarkably, the dynamic energy release rate thus obtained has an odd dependence on the electric displacement intensity factor for steady-state propagation of a conventional (unelectroded) crack with exact, electrically permeable, semi-permeable, or impermeable crack surface condition, which is in agreement with experimental evidence.     

Piezomagnetic and piezoelectric poling effects on mode I and II crack initiation behavior of magnetoelectroelastic materials

The ferrite and ferroelectric phase of magnetoelectroelastic (MEE) material can be selected and processed to control the macroscopic behavior of electron devices using continuum mechanics models. Once macro- and/or microdefects appear, the highly intensified magnetic and electric energy localization could alter the response significantly to change the design performance. Alignment of poling directions of piezomagnetic and piezoelectric materials can add to the complexity of the MEE material behavior to which this study will be concerned with.Appropriate balance of distortional and dilatational energy density is no longer obvious when a material possesses anisotropy and/or nonhomogeneity. An excess of the former could result in unwanted geometric change while the latter may lead to unexpected fracture initiation. Such information can be evaluated quantitatively from the stationary values of the energy density function dW/dV. The maxima and minima have been known to coincide, respectively, with possible locations of permanent shape change and crack initiation regardless of material and loading type. The direction of poling with respect to a line crack and the material microstructure described by the constitutive coefficients will be specified explicitly with reference to the applied magnetic field, electric field and mechanical stress, both normal and shear. The crack initiation load and direction could be predicted by finding the direction for which the volume change is the largest. In contrast to intuition, change in poling directions can influence the cracking behavior of MEE dramatically. This will be demonstrated by the numerical results for the BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ composite having different volume fractions where BaTiO₃ and CoFe₂O₄ are, respectively, the inclusion and matrix.To be emphasized is that mode I and II crack behavior will not have the same definition as that in classical fracture mechanics where load and crack extension symmetry would coincide. A striking result is found for a mode II crack. By keeping the magnetic poling fixed, a reversal of electric poling changed the crack initiation angle from θ₀=+80° to θ₀=−80° using the line extending ahead of the crack as the reference. This effect is also sensitive to the distance from the crack tip. Displayed and discussed are results for r/a=10⁻⁴ and 10⁻¹. Because the theory of magnetoelectroelasticity used in the analysis is based on the assumption of equilibrium where the influence of material microstructure is homogenized, the local space and temporal effects must be interpreted accordingly. Among them are the maximum values of (dW/dV)_max and (dW/dV)_min which refer to as possible sites of yielding and fracture. Since time and size are homogenized, it is implicitly understood that there is more time for yielding as compared to fracture being a more sudden process. This renders a higher dW/dV in contrast to that for fracture. Put it differently, a lower dW/dV with a shorter time for release could be more detrimental.     

Magnetic and electric poling effects associated with crack growth in BaTiO3–CoFe2O4 composite

Magnetoelectroelastic composite possesses the dual feature that the application of magnetic field induces electric polarization and electric field induces magnetization. The poling directions introduced magnetically and electrically can be different in addition to those for the applied magnetic and electric field. Their choices can influence the character of crack growth which could be enhanced or retarded. The details of how the directions of poling and applied field would affect crack initiation and growth are discussed in relation to the volume fraction of inclusions for a BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ two phase composite. The multi-functional aspects of magnetoelectroelastic materials are involved since they entail multi-scaling features. Failure criteria that applies to isotropic elastic materials may not hold for composites exhibiting piezomagnetic and piezoelectric properties. For instance, a negative energy release rate has been obtained for cracks in piezoelectric materials.In view of what has been said with reference to the energy release rate approach, it is desirable to use the strain energy density function as a failure criterion, even if it is only for its positive definiteness character. Physically speaking, it is attractive to have a function that could rank the proportion of energy related to volume and shape change. They determine the proportion of the hard and soft phase of the composite and hence the volume fraction of the constituent. Strength and toughness parameters used for ranking isotropic and homogeneous materials will not apply for anisotropic and/or nonhomogeneous materials if these microstructure effects could not be suppressed to a lower scale and represented as an average at the macroscopic scale. Too much emphases cannot be placed on the need to clarify the multi-scaling aspects of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic materials. Their behavior as affected by the presence of crack-like defects should be understood prior to deciding whether the material characterization approach would be suitable. That is whether simplicity could justify at the expense of conceptual rigor. Much of this would depend on scaling the time and size related to loading and material structure interaction. The magnetoelectroelastic crack model selected in the work to follow perhaps will provide an insight into the complexicity of the state of affairs for treating the finer details of material behavior with rigor.The proposed test model shows that crack growth in the magnetoelectroelastic materials can be suppressed by increasing the magnitude of the piezomagnetic constants in relation to those for piezoelectricity. A more rational means of evaluating the resistance of materials against fracture is thus proposed, particularly when anisotropy and inhomogeneity might be present.     

压电材料反平面运动裂纹的能量释放率与分叉角

用复变函数方法,研究了压电材料中反平面运动裂纹的动态断裂问题,研究表明：介质内的耦合场与裂纹运动速度有关,在裂纹尖端有奇异。应力强度因子与裂纹运动速度无关,与纯弹性结构一致,沿裂纹延长线扩展的动态能量释放率可用应力强度因子表示,而与电载荷无关,裂纹运动的高速度具有止裂作用,在一定条件下,裂纹有扩展成曲线裂纹或分叉的趋势。     

Damage analysis of thermopiezoelectric properties: Part I - crack tip singularities

This is Part I of the work on a two-dimensional analysis of thermal and electric fields of a thermopiezoelectric solid damaged by cracks. It deals with finding the singular crack tip behavior for the temperature, heat flow, displacements, electric potential, stresses and electric displacements. By application of Fourier transformations and the extended Stroh formalism, the problem is reduced to a pair of dual integral equations for the temperature field with the aid of an auxiliary function. The electroelastic field is governed by another pair of dual integral equations. The inverse square root singularity is found for the heat flow field while the logarithmic singularity prevailed for the electroelastic field regardless of whether the crack lies in a homogeneous piezoelectric solid or at an interface of two dissimilar piezoelectric materials. Results are given for the energy release rate and a finite length crack oriented at an arbitrarily angle with reference to the external disturbances. Part II of this paper considers the modelling of a piezoelectric material containing microcracks. A representative cracked area element is used to obtain the effective conductivity and electroelastic modulus. Numerical results are given for a peizoelectric Bati O₃ ceramic with cracks.     

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.     

Antiplane internal crack normal to the edge of a functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic half plane

This paper deals with the antiplane magnetoelectroelastic problem of an internal crack normal to the edge of a functionally graded piezoelectric/piezomagnetic half plane. The properties of the material such as elastic modulus, piezoelectric constant, dielectric constant, piezomagnetic coefficient, magnetoelectric coefficient and magnetic permeability are assumed in exponential forms and vary along the crack direction. Fourier transforms are used to reduce the impermeable and permeable crack problems to a system of singular integral equations, which is solved numerically by using the Gauss-Chebyshev integration technique. The stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction intensity factors at the crack tips are determined numerically. The energy density theory is applied to study the effects of nonhomogeneous material parameter β, edge conditions, location of the crack and load ratios on the fracture behavior of the internal crack.     

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.     

Strip electric-magnetic breakdown model in a magnetoelectroelastic medium

Extending the polarization saturation model [Gao et al., 1997. Local and global energy release rates for an electrically yielded crack in a piezoelectric ceramic. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 45, 491-510] and the dielectric breakdown (DB) model [Zhang et al., 2005. The strip dielectric breakdown model. Int. J. Fract. 132, 311-327] in piezoelectric materials, the Strip Electric-Magnetic Breakdown (SEMB) model is proposed for electrically and magnetically impermeable crack in a magnetoelectroelastic medium to study the effect of the nonlinear character of electric field and magnetic field on fracture of magnetoelectroelastic materials. In the SEMB model, the electric field in the strip of the electric breakdown zone ahead of the crack tip is equal to the electric breakdown strength, while the magnetic filed in the strip of the magnetic breakdown zone is equal to the magnetic breakdown strength. By using the extended Stroh formalism and the extended dislocation modeling of a crack, the Griffith crack problem under the electrically and magnetically elastic-plastic condition in a magnetoelectroelastic medium is reduced to a set of dual integral equations. The sizes of the electric breakdown zone and the magnetic breakdown zone, the extended intensity factors and the local J-integral are obtained. The effect of the combined mechanical-electric-magnetic loadings on the local J-integral is studied.     

Mode-I crack projection procedure using the strain energy density criterion

A practice used in linear elastic fracture mechanics is the projection of a crack onto a plane normal to the principal tensile stress axes for computing the stress intensity factor K_I. The minimum strain-energy criterion is applied for different crack configurations with the introduction of a safety factor S_i which is the ratio of the strain energy density factor of the projected crack and that of the original crack. Numerous crack configurations are investigated to illustrate the degree of conservativeness of the crack projection procedure.     

Prediction of mixed-mode fracture based on an elasto–plastic energy balance criterion

The maximum energy release rate criterion, i.e., G _max criterion, is commonly used for crack propagation analysis. This fracture criterion is based on the elastic macroscopic strength of materials. In the present investigation, however, the G _max criterion has been modified in order to accommodate the consideration of plastic strain energy. This modified criterion is extended to study the fatigue crack growth characteristics of mixed-mode cracks. To predict crack propagation due to fatigue loads, a new elasto–plastic energy model is presented. This new model includes the effects of material properties such as strain hardening exponent n, yield strength σ _y , and fracture toughness and stress intensity factor ranges. The results obtained are compared with those obtained using the commonly employed crack growth law and the experimental data.