Electroelastic intensification and domain switching near a plane strain crack in a rectangular piezoelectric material

We study the effects of crack face boundary conditions and localized polarization switching on the piezoelectric fracture. This paper consists of two parts. In the first part, the electroelastic problem of an infinite piezoelectric material with a crack is formulated by means of integral transforms, and the exact solution is obtained. The electroelastic fields are expressed in closed form. The fracture mechanics parameters, such as energy release rate, are obtained for the permeable, impermeable and open crack models. In the second part, finite element analysis is carried out to study the crack behavior in a rectangular piezoelectric material by introducing a model for polarization switching in local areas of electroelastic field concentrations. A nonlinear behavior induced by localized polarization switching is observed between the fracture mechanics parameters and applied electric field.