Linear electro-elastic analysis of a cavity or a crack in a piezoelectric material (Q1287212)

Analytical solutions for an elliptical cylinder cavity or a crack inside an infinite piezoelectric medium under combined mechanical-electrical loadings are formulated via the Stroh formalism and confirmed by finite element analysis. The results show that the stress and electric fields in the vicinity of the crak tip are, in general, determined by a complex vector of intensity factors. We also show that the complex vector of intensity factors may be real under certain circumstances.