Electroelastic interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and a confocal elliptic blunt crack with elliptical inhomogeneity

The electroelastic interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and an elliptical inhomogeneity containing a confocal blunt crack under infinite longitudinal shear and in-plane electric field is investigated. Using the sectionally holomorphic function theory, Cauchy singular integral, singularity analysis of complex functions and theory of Rieman boundary problem, the explicit series solution of stress field is obtained when the screw dislocation is located in inhomogeneity. The intervention law of the interaction between blunt crack and screw dislocation in inhomogeneity is discussed. The analytical expressions of generalized stress and strain field of inhomogeneity are calculated, while the image force, field intensity factors of blunt crack are also presented. Moreover, a new matrix expression of the energy release rate and generalized strain energy density (SED) are deduced. With the size variation of blunt crack, the results can be reduced to the case of the interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and a line crack in inhomogeneity. Numerical analysis are then conducted to reveal the effects of the dislocation location, the size of inhomogeneity and blunt crack and the applied load on the image force, energy release rate and strain energy density. The influence of dislocation on energy release rate and strain energy density is also revealed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.