Abstract:
The un-ending thrust of human being has developed materials, materials science and
their technology. The new technology is trying to ful ll the ever growing demands
of mankind in search of material comforts and trying to save out natural resources.
This has given rise to the development of smart materials. These smart materials
have the property that can be signi cantly altered in a controlled fashion by external
stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric and magnetic elds.
Piezoelectric/piezo-electro-magnetic materials are most popular smart materials
and widely used as sensors, actuators or transducers in smart structures, aerospace
and automotive etc. However, these piezoelectric/piezo-electro-magnetic materials
are mechanically brittle in nature and very susceptible to fracture. Therefore, much
attention has been focused by many researchers to study the fracture analysis of
such materials.
Much work has been reported on cracking of such materials by many researchers
viz. Pak, Park, Sosa, McMeeking, Narita, Shindo, Zhang, Gao, Li, Hu, Shen, Ru,
Wang, Mai, to quote few. To study the behavior of cracking makes it possible to
propose the arrest of opening of the crack.
The crack arrest models have been developed on the basis of strip-yield model
proposed by Dugdale (1960) and strip-saturation model proposed by Gao et al.
(1997). The present problems investigated in this thesis are based on Dugdale and
Gao models for cracked piezoelectric/piezo-electro-magnetic strip under Mode-III
deformation. The numerical case study is presented for BaTiO3, PZT-5H, PZT-7A
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and PZT-6B piezoelectric ceramics.
Based on Dugdale model, a strip-yield model is proposed for longitudinally ori-
ented and asymmetrically situated single impermeable crack in piezoelectric strip
under four di erent combination of prescribed electro-mechanical loads. It is found
that energy release rate is minimum for non-centrically located crack as compare to
the centrically located crack.
After that strip-yield model is modi ed and strip-electro-mechanical yielding
model is proposed for piezoelectric strip weakened by a non-centric crack. This
analysis is conducted under the electrically uni ed boundary condition introducing
the electric crack condition parameter that describes all electric crack-face boundary
conditions: impermeable, semi-permeable and permeable. Fourier integral trans-
form technique is used to reduce the problem into two pair of dual integral equa-
tions, which are further reduced to Fredholm integral equations of second kind. The
analytical expressions are derived for developed slide-yield zone length, saturation
zone length and fracture parameters viz. crack sliding displacement, crack opening
potential drop, eld intensity factors and energy release rate.
In this thesis, the e ect of permittivity of crack gap media is observed for two
equal collinear cracks cuts an in nite long and narrow piezoelectric strip under ap-
plied electromechanical loading. For this numerical case study is also presented on
various fracture parameters.
Strip-saturation model and strip-electro-elastic yielding model are also proposed
for piezoelectric strip weakened by transversely oriented and symmetrically situ-
ated two equal semi-permeable collinear cracks. Fourier series method and integral
equation techniques are used to develop these mathematical models. The analytic
expressions are derived for developed zones as well as for fracture parameters at
both interior and exterior tips of the crack. Numerical case study is presented to
study the in
uence of electric crack-face boundary conditions, inter-crack distance
as well as electro-mechanical loads and piezoelectric material constants on fracture
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parameters.
Similar to piezoelectric materials, strip-induction-saturation model (based on
Dugdale and Gao models) is also proposed for transversely isotropic piezo-electro-
magnetic strip weakened by a semi-permeable non-centric crack. Fourier integral
transform technique is used to solve analytically the governing Laplace equations.
The Analytical expressions are derived for developed induction and saturation zones;
intensity factors for stress, strain, electric eld, electric displacement, magnetic
induction and magnetic eld; crack sliding displacement; crack opening potential
drop; crack opening induction drop; local and global energy release rates. BaTiO3-
CoFe2O3 is chosen for numerical case study to study the combined e ect of pre-
scribed mechanical, electrical and magnetic loads on crack opening potential drop,
crack opening induction drop, local and global energy release rates. In this model,
three di erent possible situations are considered: when developed induction zone is
bigger, shorter and equal to developed saturation zone.