Comparative analysis of piezoelectric bending-mode actuators

Valery D. Kugel; Sanjay Chandran; Leslie Eric Cross

doi:10.1117/12.267133

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14 February 1997 Comparative analysis of piezoelectric bending-mode actuators

Valery D. Kugel, Sanjay Chandran, Leslie Eric Cross

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Proceedings Volume 3040, Smart Structures and Materials 1997: Smart Materials Technologies; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.267133
Event: Smart Structures and Materials '97, 1997, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

During the last several years novel piezoelectric bending actuators have been developed: RAINBOW, CERAMBOW, CRESCENT, d₃₃ bimorph and THUNDER. A comparative experimental investigation of electromechanical characteristics of these devices along with conventional d₃₁ bimorph and unimorph actuators was conducted in this work. All transducers were fabricated from soft piezoelectric ceramics. The experimental results show the d₃₃ bimorph and unimorph elements have superior quasistatic characteristics as compared to other type of bending-mode actuators. All these piezoelectric devices demonstrate a significant dependence of electromechanical performance on the magnitude of the driving electric field. It was found that the decrease in the mechanical quality factor and resonant frequency of bending vibrations in d₃₁ unimorph, RAINBOW, CRESCENT (CERAMBOW) and THUNDER with increasing electric field is much smaller than that in bimorph and d₃₃ unimorph actuators. The dependence of the behavior of these devices on the operating conditions governs the selection of a particular device for a specific application.

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Valery D. Kugel, Sanjay Chandran, and Leslie Eric Cross "Comparative analysis of piezoelectric bending-mode actuators", Proc. SPIE 3040, Smart Structures and Materials 1997: Smart Materials Technologies, (14 February 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.267133

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