Domain switching near crack tip in piezoceramics

Domain switching near the crack or notch tip is important in the study of fracture in piezoelectric materials. The ABAQUS finite element piezoelectric element was used in conjunction with the domain switching code developed for prediction of domain switch zone by performing a nonlinear analysis. Domain switching zones in the vicinity of the crack tip were obtained using the work and energy density criteria corresponding to combined electrical and mechanical loads. Comparison is made to indicate the differences in the prediction by the two domain switching criteria. Experiments are conducted with uniform single crystal BaTiO₃ and notched single crystal BaTiO₃. The difference in the intensity of the polarized light is used to identify the out-of-plane domains (oriented in the Z-direction) and the in-plane domains (oriented in the X, Y directions).