Multiple Surface Cracking of a Piezoelectric Layer Bonded to an Elastic Substrate Under Dynamic Anti-plane Electromechanical Impacts

In engineering applications, piezoelectric materials are usually bonded to elastic substrates to form so-called smart materials and structures. Such materials and structures can respond to external electromechanical environments, which are often transient. This article studies a periodic array of surface cracks in a piezoelectric layer bonded to an elastic substrate subjected to transient electromechanical loads. The anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electrical loads are investigated. A system of singular integral equations is formulated in terms of the crack surface anti-plane displacement and in-plane electrical potential. Effects of crack spacing and electromechanical coupling on the time-dependent crack tip field intensity factors are investigated in detail. Both a single piezoelectric layer and a piezoelectric layer bonded to an elastic substrate are analyzed for electrically impermeable and permeable crack assumptions.