Multiple cracking of magnetoelectroelastic materials in coupling thermo–electro–magneto-mechanical loading environments

Magnetoelectroelastic materials are inherently brittle and prone to fracture. Therefore, it is important to model evaluate the fracture behavior of these advanced materials. In this paper, a periodic array of cracks in a magnetoelectroelastic material is investigated. The problem is solved by integral transform and integral equation technique. Impermeable and permeable crack-face electromagnetic boundary condition assumptions are studied. The stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction and their intensity factors are obtained. Effect of the crack spacing on these quantities is investigated in details. The problem of transient fracture by a transient temperature variation along the crack lines is also investigated. Parameters governing the transient thermo–electro–magneto-elastic fields are identified.