The effect of damage and temperature on electrical impedance of the PZT-beam coupled structure

Abstract

A numerical model based on the spectral finite element method (SFEM) is proposed to predict the electromechanical impedance (EMI) spectra of the PZT transducer bonded beam. Fast and accurate simulation of the impedance signals from the PZT wafer can be achieved by SFEM. The proposed model includes the PZT wafer (actuator/sensor), beam structure and the coupled interaction between PZT wafer/beam structure, which predicts the frequency response function, the impedance response under damage and temperature variation effects. Numerical simulation algorithms are validated with both finite element analysis and experiments. The results show that the proposed model has capability of capturing the effect of damage and temperature effects on PZT transducer impedance with great accuracy, the existence of damage can be detected by evaluating the electromechanical impedance signals.