A mode III interfacial crack under nonuniform ferro-elastic domain switching

This paper deals with a mode III interfacial crack while considering the effect of domain switching. The analysis will focus on the variation of stress intensity factor caused by domain switching. Due to the mismatch of material properties, an asymmetric nonuniform domain switching zone around the interfacial crack is achieved under the nonuniform domain switching criterion. Employing the weight function method, we obtain analytic forms of mono-domain and multi-domain toughening effects about stationary and quasi-static steady-state growing cracks, respectively. Three coupling parameters are proposed to evaluate the influences of elastic and ferroelectric bimaterial properties. In conclusion, domain switching of mode III quasi-static steady-state growing interfacial crack can toughen the material. The research will give us ideas on material and initial poling orientation selection to maximize the ferro-elastic toughening effect.