Abstract
This paper reports electromechanical properties of the newly developed 1-3 connectivity lead-free piezoelectric ceramic-Portland cement composites for smart structure applications. The composites were fabricated from barium titanate and Portland cement by the dice-and-fill method. The influences of barium titanate (BT) ceramic volume fractions from 30% to 70% on the electromechanical coupling coefficient of composite were investigated. The results indicate that the thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt ) of the composite is influenced by the BT volume content. It was found that the thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt ) could reach up to 21.52% when the composite with BT ceramic volume content was increased to 70%.
Acknowledgments
Financial support from the Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (Grant No. PHD/0147/2551) to Miss Rattiyakorn Rianyoi and Asst. Prof. Dr. Arnon Chaipanich is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to thank the staff members at the Electroceramics Research Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, for use of the research facilities which made this work possible. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), Office of the Higher Education Commission (Thailand) and the INAMM/NSF (#0844081). Chiang Mai University and the Graduate School are also acknowledged for additional financial support.