Mode III crack problems for two bonded functionally graded piezoelectric materials

This paper investigates the singular electromechanical field near the crack tips of an internal crack. The crack is perpendicular to the interface formed by bonding two half planes of different functionally graded piezoelectric material. The properties of two materials, such as elastic modulus, piezoelectric constant and dielectric constant, are assumed in exponential forms and vary along the crack direction. The singular integral equations for impermeable and permeable cracks are derived and solved by using the Gauss-Chebyshev integration technique. It shows that the stresses and electrical displacements around the crack tips have the conventional square root singularity. The stress intensity and electric displacement intensity factors are highly affected by the material nonhomogeneity parameters beta and gamma. The solutions for some degenerated problems can also be obtained. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.