Electromechanical properties of smart aggregate: theoretical modeling and experimental validation

Abstract

Smart aggregate (SA), as a piezoceramic-based multi-functional device, is formed by sandwiching two lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patches with copper shielding between a pair of solid-machined cylindrical marble blocks with epoxy. Previous researches have successfully demonstrated the capability and reliability of versatile SAs to monitor the structural health of concrete structures. However, the previous works concentrated mainly on the applications of SAs in structural health monitoring; no reasonable theoretical model of SAs was proposed. In this paper, electromechanical properties of SAs were investigated using a proposed theoretical model. Based on one dimensional linear theory of piezo-elasticity, the dynamic solutions of a SA subjected to an external harmonic voltage were solved. Further, the electric impedance of the SA was computed, and the resonance and anti-resonance frequencies were calculated based on derived equations. Numerical analysis was conducted to discuss the effects of the thickness of epoxy layer and the dimension of PZT patch on the fundamental resonance and anti-resonance frequencies as well as the corresponding electromechanical coupling factor. The dynamic solutions based on the proposed theoretical model were further experimentally verified with two SA samples. The fundamental resonance and anti-resonance frequencies of SAs show good agreements in both theoretical and experimental results. The presented analysis and results contribute to the overall understanding of SA properties and help to optimize the working frequencies of SAs in structural health monitoring of civil structures.