Electric field-induced nonlinear behavior of lead zirconate titanate piezoceramic actuators in bending mode

Abstract

In this article, analytical solutions of piezoelectric bimorph and unimorph actuator in cantilever configurations are developed using the second-order constitutive equation. Tip deflection ratio (TDR), a dimensionless parameter, is defined to analyze the effect of second-order coefficients of piezoelectric materials on the response of bimorph and unimorph actuators. Four piezoelectric unimorphs of varying geometries are fabricated and tested to verify the nonlinear response under applied electric field. Furthermore, second-order coefficients of lead zirconate titanate (PZT; APC 850) are derived by fitting the experimental data with nonlinear analytical solution. The nonlinear response of all the piezoelectric unimorphs compares well with the experimental results.

Keywords:

• Nonlinear piezoelectric actuator
• piezoelectric unimorph
• lead zirconate titanate
• electrostrictive coefficient
• elastostrictive coefficient

Acknowledgments

Sumit and RS are thankful to Dr. Tapas Ganguli for technical discussions, valuable comments and suggestions during the preparation of manuscript. The authors are thankful to Mr. D. Raghunathan for his help in cutting and sizing the silicon and piezoelectric actuators. The authors are also thankful to Computer Division of RRCAT for providing access of Amogh-12 (centralized computing server) where MATLAB 2015 are installed. The support of Workshop B in making the fixtures is greatly acknowledged. One of the authors, Sumit acknowledges the support of HBNI-RRCAT for providing financial assistance.

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. The authors receive no support for publication of the articles.