PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the repair of a straight and angular crack in the structure using a piezoelectric material under thermo-mechanical loading by the extended finite element method (XFEM) approach. This provides a general and simple solution for the modeling of crack in the structure to analyze the repair.Design/methodology/approachThe extended finite element method is used to model crack geometry. The crack surface is modeled by Heaviside enrichment function while the crack front is modeled by branch enrichment functions.FindingsThe effectiveness of the repair is measured in terms of stress intensity factor and J-integral. The critical voltage at which patch repair is most effective is evaluated and presented. Optimal patch shape, location of patch, adhesive thickness and adhesive modulus are obtained for effective repair under thermo-mechanical loading environment.Originality/valueThe presented numerical modeling and simulation by the XFEM approach are of great benefit to analyze crack repair in two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures using piezoelectric patch material under thermo-mechanical loading.
This article presents an experimental investigation of repair of a crack in a structure using piezoelectric material under thermo-mechanical loading environment. The cyclic mechanical load is applied on a plate with a straight and angular crack under uniform temperature environment. Two cases have been considered for the repair of crack under (a) mechanical loading and (b) thermo-mechanical loading environment. A piezoelectric sensor is utilized to measure voltage. The measured voltage is used to calculate the stress intensity factor in passive and active modes. The effect of a single and double piezoelectric patch in the repair of the plate is investigated. The double piezoelectric patch is found to be more effective as compared to single patch when placed symmetrically offset from the crack. An optimal value of voltage and phase difference is evaluated for most effective crack repair. Location of the piezoelectric patch is varied with respect to crack location, and best-suited position for effective crack repair is proposed. The viability of piezoelectric used for repair under thermo-mechanical loading is discussed. The active mode of repair by piezoelectric is found to be effective under thermo-mechanical loading environment.
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