Effects of in-plane electric fields on the toughening behavior of ferroelectric ceramics

Mode-I steady state crack growth in poled ferroelectric ceramics subjected to simultaneous electrical and mechanical loading is analyzed to investigate the effect of in-plane electric fields and polarization on the toughening behavior.A multiaxial, incremental constitutive law for domain switching is implemented within the finite element method to obtain the electromechanical crack tip fields.Simulation results are presented for the cases of initial remanent polarization states and applied electric fields perpendicular to the crack plane and parallel to the crack growth direction.Specific results from the calculations include the shapes and sizes of switching zones, and the toughening effects due to domain switching near the crack tip.