Multilayer Actuator Composed of PZN–PZT and PZN–PZT/Ag Fabricated by Co‐Extrusion Process

Abstract

A multilayer ceramic actuator composed of piezoelectrically active Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) 0.2 -Pb(Zr 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 0.8 (PZN-PZT) layers and electrically conducting PZN-PZT/Ag layers was fabricated by the co-extrusion process. For the piezoelectric layers, PZN-PZT, which is sinterable at a low temperature (9001C), was used. For the conducting layers, a PZN-PZT/Ag composite, made by mixing silver particles with the PZN-PZT matrix, was employed. For the co-extrusion process, piezoelectric and conducting feedrods were made by mixing the PZN-PZT and PZN-PZT/Ag, respectively, with a thermoplastic polymer. The initial feedrods, which were composed of five 3 mm-thick PZN-PZT layers, two 1.5 mm-thick PZN-PZT layers, and six 1 mmthick PZN-PZT/Ag layers, were co-extruded through a 24 mm  2 mm reduction die at 1051C to produce continuous multilayered green sheets. The sheets were stacked, warm pressed, and sintered at 9001C for 4 h after binder burnout. The sintered multilayer actuator showed distinct layers without any reaction products or cracks at the interface. The thicknesses of the piezoelectric and conducting layers were about 200 and 70 lm, respectively. The displacement of the multilayer actuator, composed of 40 piezoelectric layers (with a total height of 10.8 mm), was about 10 lm at an applied voltage of 500 V.

Piezoelectric Multilayer Ceramic/Polymer Composite Transducer with 2–2 Connectivity

“…These processes create a green ceramic object in a layer‐by‐layer build sequence via the deposition of a feedstock material, in the form of a ceramic powder‐loaded filament 15 or a concentrated colloidal gel‐based ink 16 . Other promising approaches are the computer numeric‐controlled (CNC) machining of green ceramics 17–21 and the co‐extrusion process 22–24 …”

“…Furthermore, when Ag particles of more than 30 vol% were added to the PZN–PZT and co‐fired at temperatures below 900°C, the electrical conductivity of the composite became comparable with that of pure Ag. Various types of actuators have been fabricated by co‐firing the PZN–PZT and Ag 23,24,29 …”

“…16 Other promising approaches are the computer numeric-controlled (CNC) machining of green ceramics [17][18][19][20][21] and the co-extrusion process. [22][23][24] For large area projectors or adaptive materials for fluid-borne noise control, more advanced transducers need to be generated, which provide high-power radiation with a large surface displacement, while being operated at a low voltage. However, conventional piezoceramic-polymer composites with 1-3 or 2-2 connectivity posed difficulties in meeting these requirements because their performances are mainly dependant on the simple longitudinal piezoelectric effects.…”

“…Various types of actuators have been fabricated by co-firing the PZN-PZT and Ag. 23,24,29 In this paper, we introduce a new piezoelectric multilayer PZN-PZT/polymer composite with 2-2 connectivity, which was fabricated by thermoplastic green machining after co-extrusion of the piezoelectric layers and electrically conducting layers. A multilayer thermoplastic body, consisting of five piezoelectric layers (PZN-PZT) and four conducting layers (PZN-PZT/Ag), which was prepared using the co-extrusion process, was CNC machined to form periodic walls in the green body.…”

Comparison between Resonance and Non-Resonance Type Piezoelectric Acoustic Absorbers

“…Our proposed resonance and non-resonance models were fabricated by stacking commercially available lead zirconate titanate (PZT). Various studies have previously investigated the stacking or direct fabrication of devices [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”