The micro-scale adhesive contact behavior of a spherical rigid punch on a piezoelectric half-space is investigated in this paper. The governing equations describing the adhesive contact behavior are obtained by using the Maugis-Dugdale (M-D) elastic adhesive contact theory [J. Colloid Interface Sci. 150 (1992) 243]. The solutions for indentation of piezoelectric materials and for elastic adhesive contact can be reduced from the present results in the absence of adhesion effect and piezoelectric effect, respectively. The effect of the electric load on the adhesive contact behavior is analyzed. It is shown that the piezoelectric effect has a significant effect on the adhesive contact behavior of piezoelectric materials. The obtained results will be helpful to understand the micro-indentation properties of piezoelectric materials.

Using the integral transform and the Cauchy singular integral equation methods, the problem of an interface crack between two dissimilar piezoelectric layers under mechanical impacts is investigated under the permeable electrical boundary condition on the crack surface. The dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) of both mode-I and II are determined. The effects of the crack configuration and the combinations of the constitutive parameters of the piezoelectric materials on the dynamic response are examined. The numerical calculation of the mode-I plane problem indicates that the DSIFs may be retarded or accelerated by specifying different combinations of material parameters. In addition, the parameters of the crack configuration, including the ratio of the crack length to the layer width and the ratio between the widths of two layers, exert a considerable influence on the DSIFs. The results seem useful for design of the piezoelectric structures and devices of high performance.

A micromechanics model is presented for estimating the effective thermoelastic properties of layered media. The continuity condition across a perfectly bonded interface between two dissimilar materials is introduced by decomposing the stress and strain tensors into two orthogonal complementary parts, an interior part and an exterior part that are tangential and normal to the interface, respectively. This model follows from the fact that the exterior part of the stress tensor and the interior part of the strain tensor are each continuous across the perfect interface. Thereby, the interaction between different phases of composites is accounted for. The exact expressions for the effective thermoelastic properties of layered media are derived, and the connections between the present scheme and some conventional micromechanics models are examined.

The wave function expansion method and singular integral equations are used to investigate the scattering of SH waves by a cylindrical piezoelectric inclusion partially debonded from piezoelectric matrix. For impermeable crack case, dynamic stress intensity factors are obtained and numerical results show the phenomenon of low frequency resonance for various debonding sizes and incident angles.