MECHANICAL TOUGHNESS AND PIEZOELECTRIC PROPERTIES IN A PIEZOELECTRIC COMPOSITE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to fabricate a piezoelectric composite consisting of a piezoelectric ceramic and a high toughness material and to evaluate their electromechanical properties for high force actuator applications. The mixture of the piezoelectric material, PMNZT, and high toughness material, ZrO2, exhibited high piezoelectric properties as well as good mechanical fracture resistance. Up to 2 vol% of ZrO2 in PMNZT matrix, piezoelectric d33 coefficient was above 400 pC/N, being 80% of that for the original PMNZT, and the toughness showed twice of the PMNZT. When the volume fraction of the ZrO2 was above 5%, however, the piezoelectric coefficient became abruptly decreased and it approached 40% of value for the PMNZT.