Anti-plane shear crack growth rate of piezoelectric ceramic body with finite width

The theory of linear piezoelectricity is applied to develop an anti-plane crack growth rate equation of a finite crack in a piezoelectric ceramic body with finite width. Plastic zone is assumed to be confined to a sheet ahead of both crack edges similar to the strip model for in-plane loading. The procedure consists of reducing a system of dual integral equations to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The accumulated plastic displacement criterion is used for developing a solution for the crack growth rate. Numerical values of crack growth rate are obtained and the results are displayed graphically to exhibit the electroelastic interactions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.