The transient response of a transversely isotropic piezoelectric ceramic layer containing two surface cracks is analyzed under the action of antiplane mechanical and inplane electric impacts. By using the Laplace transform and the finite Fourier transform, the mixed initial-boundary-value problem is reduced to singular integral equations of the first kind. The Lobatto-Chebyshev collocation technique is employed to solve numerically the resulting singular integral equations, and dynamic field intensity factors and strain energy release rate are determined for both permeable and impermeable cracks. Performing the inverse Laplace transform, numerical results are presented graphically to show the effects of the geometric parameters, and the material properties on the dynamic strain energy release rate. The dynamic interaction of two surface cracks, and cracks with free surfaces is discussed in detail.
