Strip-electro-mechanical yield model for transversely situated two semi-permeable collinear cracks in piezoelectric strip

•The strip-electro-mechanical model is proposed for two semi-permeable collinear cracks transversely situated in a poled piezoelectric strip.•A comparison among ERRs for Case I, II and III concludes that crack will try to open less for case when saturation zone is bigger than slide-yield zone still small for equal saturation and slide-yield zones.•The energy release rate is minimum for PZT-5H ceramic.•The case study for different piezoelectric ceramics affirms that model is capable of crack arrest under small-scale mechanical yield and electric saturation.

A strip-electro-mechanical model is proposed for two semi-permeable collinear cracks, symmetrically situated and transversely oriented in a poled piezoelectric strip. The remote boundary of the strip is subjected to mode-III stress and in-plane electric-displacement. Fourier series method together with integral equation method is employed to obtain the analytic solution. Expressions are derived for crack-sliding displacement, crack opening potential drop, intensity factors and energy release rate. Also, explicit expressions for developed slide-yield and saturation zones are derived. An illustrative case study is presented for poled PZT-5H, BaTiO3, PZT-6B and PZT-7A piezoelectric ceramics to study the capability of the strip-electro-mechanical yield model for the crack arrest. Results obtained are graphically presented, discussed and concluded.