Fracture of electrostrictive solids subjected to combined mechanical and electric loads

Based on the complex variable method, this paper studies the effects of electric fields on the fracture of an electrostrictive solid under combined mechanical and electrical loads at infinity. The electric field inside a deformed crack is first determined by using the semi-permeable crack model. Then, the complex potentials and the intensity factors of stresses are presented, respectively, in concise and closed forms. Numerical results are also obtained to discuss the effects of applied electric and/or mechanical loads on the induced electric fields inside the crack and the stress intensity factors when the interior of the deformed crack and the surrounding space at infinity are filled with different gases.