Hybrid extended displacement discontinuity-charge simulation method for analysis of cracks in 2D piezoelectric media

The extended displacement discontinuity method (EDDM) and the charge simulation method (CSM) are combined to develop an efficient approach for analysis of cracks in two-dimensional piezoelectric media. In the proposed hybrid EDD–CSM, the solution for an electrically impermeable crack is approximately expressed by a linear combination of fundamental solutions of the governing equations, which includes the extended point force fundamental solutions with the sources placed at chosen points outside the domain of the problem under consideration and the extended Crouch fundamental solutions with the extended displacement discontinuities placed on the crack. The coefficients of the fundamental solutions are determined by letting the approximated solution satisfy the conditions on the boundary of the domain and on the crack face. Furthermore, the hybrid EDD–CSM is applied to solve the problems of cracks under electrically permeable condition, as well as under semi-permeable conditions by using an iterative approach. Two important crack problems in fracture mechanics, the center cracks and the edge cracks in piezoelectric strips, are analyzed by the proposed method. The stress intensity factor and the electric displacement intensity factor are calculated. Meanwhile the effects of strip size and the electric boundary conditions on these intensity factors are studied.