Collinear and Periodic Electrode-Ceramic Interfacial Cracks in Piezoelectric Bimaterials

Abstract

Field singularities of collinear and collinear periodic interface cracks between an electrode and a piezoelectric matrix are studied in terms of the Stroh formalism for mixed boundary conditions. In contrast to the relevant work done previously on this subject, the problem is solved based on the assumption that the upper and lower planes embedding the electrode consist of two arbitrary piezoelectric materials, and the cracks are assumed to be permeable. The problem is reduced to an interfacial crack problem equivalent to that in purely elastic media. Explicit expressions are presented for the complex potentials and field intensity factors. All the field variables exhibit oscillatory singularities, and their intensities are dependent on the material properties and the applied mechanical loads, but not on the applied electric loads.