Smart piezoelectric Fibre composites

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials are capable of actuation and sensing and have found uses in applications including ultrasonic transducers, hydrophones, micropositioning devices, accelerometers, and structural actuators. A composite con-® guration for structural actuation having signi® cant advantages over conventional piezoelectric actuators has been conceived, and the recent development of piezoelectric ceramic ® bres 5100 l m in diameter has enabled this concept to be realised. It is envisaged that these composites will ® nd uses in contour control, non-destructive testing, vibration suppression, and noise control. The possibility of computer control using closed loop systems has led to these composites emerging as potential `smart' materials and structures. Since their conception, less than a decade ago, signi® cant advances have been made in many areas concerned with composite performance, such as ® bre and matrix technology and con® guration optimisation. These advances are charted, the ® bre, matrix, and electrode technologies are reviewed, and the manufacture, modelling, and applications of these new piezoelectric composites, known as active ® bre composites, are discussed.MST/5547

Optimisation of interdigitated electrodes for piezoelectric actuators and active fibre composites

“…Fine scale piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibres having diameters less than 250 μm are finding uses in ultrasonic transducers [1] and novel geometry composites consisting of PZT fibres with interdigitated surface electrodes [2]. Such composites, as shown in Fig.…”

Failure and volume fraction dependent mechanical properties of composite sensors and actuators

“…Equation (1) requires both components to have similar Poisson's ratios, which is valid because PZT-5A n 0.38 and epoxy n 0.37 [18,19]. As the load is increased, the composite strain will reach the failure strain (1 Ã f ) of the brittle fibres, which will be the first component to fail ( Fig.…”

“…AFCs were developed by the Active Materials and Structures Laboratory and patented in 1994 [8]. Since their initial development, advances have been made in many areas including fibre manufacture, matrix materials, electrode design, manufacturing techniques, and composite modelling [9,10]. A typical AFC configuration is shown in Fig.…”

Experimental characterization and numerical modeling of time-dependent electro-mechanical response of piezocomposites

“…Hence piezocomposites have been developed by combining lightweight, ductile, non-piezoelectric polymer with piezoceramic [16]. Today, most of the piezocomposites used in sensor and actuator technologies are of 1-3 type piezocomposites in which the one dimensional piezoelectric rods are embedded in a three dimensionally connected passive polymer matrix which are aligned along the thickness direction.…”