Parametric study of the volume fraction of fibers in 1–3 PZT/Polyurethane piezoelectric composites during indentation

Abstract

The electrical response during indentation of 1–3 PZT/Polyurethane piezoelectric composites containing 25 vol. % PZT-4 and 15–50 vol. % PZT-5H fibers has been investigated. The current (quasistatic charge increment) induced in the indentor due to the polarised layer on the contact surface increases with load as the contact area increases. Excellent agreement was found between the measured currents as a function of load with those predicted using an analytical model. The current increases with increasing indentor diameter as expected. Further, the scatter in data is significantly reduced as the indentor diameter increases. The measured current for a given load increases as the volume fraction of PZT fibers in the composite increases and is larger for composites containing PZT-5H fibers as compared to those containing PZT-4 fibers. In addition, it demonstrates that linear elastic indentation with simultaneous measurement of load and electric current is a simple non-destructive technique that can be used for quality assurance and characterisation of the volume fraction of 1–3 piezoelectric composites.