The transient thermo-electro-elastic fields in a piezoelectric plate with a crack

This paper is concerned with a thin plate made by a piezoelectric ceramic material and containing a crack perpendicular to its surfaces. It is assumed that the transient thermal stress is set up by the application of a heat flux as a function of the time and position along the crack edge and the heat flow by convection from the plate surfaces. The plate is also subjected to mechanical and electric loadings. The exact analytical formulae are obtained for transient thermo-electro-elastic fields in the plate. The exact analytical solutions for the stress and electric displacement intensity factors and crack-opening displacement are obtained. Numerical examples show, among others, a dependence of the stress and electric displacement intensity factors on the thermal and elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric constants of the piezoelectric materials.