Three-dimensional thermal fracture analysis of piezoelectric material by extended finite element methods

The effect of poling direction and thermal fracture analysis of penny-shaped crack (PSC) in piezoelectric material (PM) exposed to a uniform temperature and steady-state heat flow is presented using the XFEM approach. The intrinsic coupling, thermo-electro-mechanical under thermal shocks are studied and thermal stress intensity factors (TSIFs), and electrical displacement intensity factors (EDIF) are evaluated using the strain energy-based, thermal interaction integral. The discontinuous crack surfaces are treated as adiabatic and electrically impermeable. The discontinuity in both the temperature gradient and electrical field displacement over the crack surface is enriched using the Heaviside enrichment function. The fracture parameters, TSIFs, and EDIF of penny-shaped crack are a function of applied temperature fields and the thermo-electro-mechanical properties of piezoelectric material are studied. Further, the effect of poling direction, and in-plane and out-plane offset of crack position, and the inclined crack on the TSIFs and EDIF are presented. The comparison of both analytical and numerical results of the intended formulation showed excellent accuracy which has been verified on benchmark problems. The results are quite useful for the design of the sensors, transducers, and actuators in heat transfer applications.

Automated summary

The study uses the XFEM approach to investigate the effect of poling direction and thermal fracture analysis of penny-shaped crack in piezoelectric materials under uniform temperature and steady-state heat flow. It reveals that the thermal stress intensity factors and electrical displacement intensity factors of the crack are significantly influenced by the applied temperature field and the thermo-electro-mechanical properties of the piezoelectric material.