Cracked piezoelectric layer bounded between two orthotropic half-planes

This paper deals with the behavior of anti-plane shear crack in a piezoelectric layer bounded between two orthotropic half-planes within the framework of linear electroelasticity. The crack surfaces are assumed to be permeable or impermeable. The analysis is based on the stress fields caused by Volterra-type screw dislocation in the medium. Fourier transforms are used to reduce the dislocation problem to the solution of Cauchy-type singular integral equations, which are solved numerically for the dislocation density on the cracks. The dislocation densities are then employed to derive field intensity factors at the crack tips. The results show that the stress and the electric displacement intensity factors at the crack tips depend on the lengths and orientation of the cracks. It is also shown that, for a fixed value of the mechanical load, the field intensity factor can be either enhanced depending on the magnitude and direction of the applied electrical load. Furthermore, the interaction between the two cracks is investigated.