Electroelastic fields and effective moduli of a medium containing cavities or rigid inclusions of arbitrary shape under anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electric fields (Q1357308)

The paper is concerned with the static analysis of a two-dimensional infinite piezoelectric medium with isolated cavities or rigid inclusions of arbitrary shape. The piezoelectric medium is subjected to a coupled anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electric load. The conformal mapping technique is used to solve the corresponding boundary value problems, and specific results are reported for inclusions of particular shapes and local fields. Besides, the solutions of this type in conjunction with the concept of far field approach for dielectric problems are used to predict the effective moduli of a medium containing voids or rigid inclusions, in terms of matrix property, volume function and geometry factor. Explicit estimates of the effective moduli are derived for dilute as well as for moderate area fractions of inclusions. The stress and electric displacement singularities are examined at the vertices of inclusions. The treatment presented, with pertinent extensions, may be applicable to an infinite thermopiezoelectric, or polar and/or nonlocal medium.