Resonance technique for determining the physical properties of piezoelectric material can be difficult to implement for some low symmetry systems. Inconstancy may be introduced because several samples are needed and the degree of poling depends on sample geometry. The ultrasonic method on the other hand, allows the determination of a complete set of elastic, piezoelectric, dielectric constants ...

Acoustic emission (AE) sensors have been fabricated using both soft- and hard-type lead-free (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3-based ceramics. The acoustic and electromechanical properties of the ceramics have been determined using the resonance technique. The lead-free AE sensors were calibrated using a laser source and compared to a commercial sensor. A lead zirconate titanate (PZT) 5H ceramics AE sensor has a...

This paper details an experimental investigation of the clamping effect associated with thick-film piezoelectric elements printed on a substrate. The clamping effect reduces the measured piezoelectric coefficient, d33, of the film. This reduction is due to the influence of the d31 component in the film when a deformation of the structure occurs, by either the direct or indirect piezoelectric ef...

This paper details investigations into the effects of different powder size ratios on the d33 coefficient of thick-film PZT layers. The two powders used were 5H type PZT supplied by Morgan Electro Ceramics Ltd. These were prepared using ball milling for the large particles, ~2um, and attritor milling for the small particles, ~1um. These powders were mixed with 10% by weight of Ferro CF7575 lead...

This work investigates fundamental limits on electromechanical energy conversion capacity of piezoelectric transformers by considering a work cycle analysis. Fundamental limitations in a lossless piezoelectric transformer are imposed by maximum electric field strength, maximum surface charge density, maximum stress, and maximum strain. For the lossless case, our analysis indicates that the mech...

This contribution focuses on the separation of two effects causing a temperature change in experiments with electrically loaded ferroelectrics. These materials are often subjected to cyclic loading, where viscoelasticity prevails at lower electric fields, whereas dissipative heating by domain switching governs above coercive field. Different frequencies and load amplitudes investigated experime...

Non-destructive Hertzian contacts are used to couple ultrasonic waves for characterization and defect detection in anisotropic solid pates. Spring loaded quartz rods bonded to PZT-5H transducers are used to form a point source point receiver pair and ultrasonic plate modes are excited and detected around 200 KHz with 50 dB signal to ratio at the receiving end. Measurements are performed on sili...

In micro-scale energy harvesting, piezoelectric (PZT) harvesters can adequately convert kinetic from ambient vibration to electrical energy. However, due the random motion and frequency of human motion, beam cannot efficiently harvest sources. This research highlights ability harvester constructed using a PZT-5H cantilever generate voltage at any input motion. An eccentric mass is used linear m...