Transient loaded smart laminate with two piezoelectric layers bonded to an elastic layer

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials are commonly used in laminated composite structures. These structures are usually called smart structures or smart laminate. In order to ensure structural integrity, understanding of fracture of this structure is of great importance. In this paper, we consider the electro-elastic fracture problem for a laminate with two layers of piezoelectric material bonded to an elastic layer. Fourier and transform technique is used to reduce the problem to the solution of singular integral equations in Laplace transform plane. Laplace inversion yields the results in the time domain. Numerical values of the crack tip fields under transient electromechanical loading are obtained. The influences of layers thickness and crack position on stress intensity factors are investigated.