Thermally induced fracture of a piezoelectric laminate with a crack normal to interfaces

The thermally induced fracture problem for a piezoelectric laminate having a crack under uniform electric and temperature fields is considered. The crack is oriented normal to the interfaces of the laminate. For the case of a crack that ends at the interface between the piezoelectric layer and the elastic layer, the order of the stress singularity around the tip of the crack is obtained. The Fourier transform technique is used to formulate the problem in terms of a singular integral equation. The singular integral equation is solved using the Gauss-Jacobi integration formula. Numerical calculations are carried out, and the main results presented are the variation of the the energy density factors as functions of the geometric parameters and the electrical boundary conditions of the layered composites.