Transient thermal shock fracture analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric materials by the extended finite element method

Transient thermal dynamic analysis of stationary cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric materials (FGPMs) based on the extended finite element method (X-FEM) is presented. Both heating and cooling shocks are considered. The material properties are supposed to vary exponentially along specific direction while the crack-faces are assumed to be adiabatic and electrically impermeable. A dynamic X-FEM model is developed in which both Crank-Nicolson and Newmark time integration methods are used for calculating transient responses of thermal and electromechanical fields respectively. The generalized dynamic intensity factors for the thermal stresses and electrical displacements are extracted by using the interaction integral. The accuracy of the developed approach is verified numerically by comparing the calculated results with reference solutions. Numerical examples with mixed-mode crack problems are analyzed. The effects of the crack-length, poling direction, material gradation, etc. on the dynamic intensity factors are investigated. It shows that the transient dynamic crack behaviors under the cooling shock differ from those under the heating shock. The influence of the thermal shock loading on the dynamic intensity factors is significant. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.