Magnetostrictive fracture of a cylindrical multiferroic composite

The magnetostrictive fracture model is established for a cylindrical multiferroic composite loaded by magnetic field and mechanical constraining traction. Fracture analysis is performed by the methods of Cauchy singular integral equation and Lobatto–Chybeshev collocation. Numerical results of the stress intensity factor (SIF) are obtained and the computational accuracy is demonstrated. The effects of the thickness ratio, the total thickness and the inner radius on the SIF are discussed, which provides practical references for geometrical optimization of the structure. The effect of material stiffness on the SIF is specially analyzed and the influences of piezoelectric stiffening and piezomagnetic stiffening are thereby compared.