Switch-toughening of ferroelectrics subjected to electric fields
The authors quantify the toughening mechanism of ferroelectrics by 90 degrees polarization switching. In doing so, attention is focused on the case of ``small scale switching'', when the specimen size is considerably larger than the switching zone size, and a uniform electric field is assumed. Within the proposed framework, a set of dimensionless material parameters emerges that allows to scale the extent of toughening. The authors present an analytical solution for the toughening of a mono-domain ferroelectric crystal. This solution is then used to make an estimation of the fracture resistance in ferroelectrics against steady-state crack growth. The presented model is shown to be adequate in predicting the fracture toughness of ferroelectrics when the direction of the electric field is unchanged.
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1389808