ARC INTERFACE CRACK IN A THREEPHASE PIEZOELECTRIC COMPOSITE CONSTITUTIVE MODEL

An in-depth investigation is made on the problem of an arc-shaped interface insulating crack in a three-phase concentric circular cylindrical piezoelectric composite constitutive model. An exact solution in series form is derived by employing the complex variable method. In addition, the distribution of physical quantities such as stresses, strains, electric displacements and electric fields in the whole field and along the interface is also presented. Explicit expressions for crack opening displacement, jump in electric potential on the crack surface and the electro-elastic field intensity factors at the crack tips are obtained. Specific calculations demonstrate that the convergence of the series form solution is satisfactory and that the outer phase (composite phase) will exert a significant effect on the electro-mechanical coupling response of the composite system. Owing to the fact that stresses and electric displacements still possess conventional inverse square root singularities, the oscillating singularities near the crack tip under plane strain conditions will be absent and, as a result, no unphysical interpenetration phenomenon of the two crack surfaces will occur. In conclusion, the elastic solution obtained is also based on a solid physical foundation. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.59635140), and the Doctorate Foundation of Xi'an Jiaotong University.