A piezoelectric screw dislocation in a three-phase composite cylinder model with an imperfect interface

The electroelastic coupling interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and the embedded circular cross-section inclusions with imperfect interfaces in piezoelectric solids is investigated by using a three-phase composite cylinder model. By means of a complex variable technique, the explicit solutions of electroelastic fields are obtained. With the aid of the Peach–Koehler formula, the explicit expression for the image force exerted on the piezoelectric screw dislocation is derived. The image force on the dislocation and its equilibrium positions near one of the inclusions are discussed for variable parameters (interface imperfection and material electroelastic dissimilarity) and the influence of nearby inclusions is also considered. The results show that when compared with the previous solution (the perfect interface), more equilibrium positions of the screw dislocation in the matrix may be available due to the effect of the interface imperfection when the dislocation is close to the electroelastic stiff inclusion. It is also found that the magnitude of the image force exerted on the piezoelectric screw dislocation produced by multiply inclusions is always smaller than that produced by a single inclusion and the impact of nearby inclusions on the mobility of the screw dislocation is very important.