A moving conducting crack at the interface of two dissimilar piezoelectric materials

The problem of a Yoffe-type conducting crack moving with a constant velocity at the interface of two dissimilar piezoelectric half planes is investigated by employing complex variable method. Solutions for the complex potentials are derived. Explicit expressions for the field components on the interface are presented based on the obtained complex potentials. It is observed that the nature of the field singularities near the crack tip is intimately dependent on the crack moving velocity. In the extremely low speed regime, the singularities are (delta) = -1/2 +- i(epsilon)1 ; in the low speed regime, the singularities are (delta) = -1 +- i(epsilon)2 ; in the intermediate speed regime, the singularities are (delta) = -1/2 +- k; in the high speed regime, the singularities are (delta) = -1 +- i(epsilon)3 ; in the extremely high speed regime, the singularities are (delta) = -1/2 +- i(epsilon)4. (epsilon)i (i=1–4) and k are also explicitly given. A Yoffe-type moving conducting crack in a homogeneous piezoelectric material is treated as a special case. The numerical results demonstrate that the moving velocity V will exert a significant influence on the value of the singularities, and on the field component distributions along the interface.