• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.4 s.247
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• pp.409-419
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• 2006

The actuating performance of plate-type unimorph piezoelectric composite actuators having various stacking sequences was evaluated by three dimensional finite element analysis on the basis of thermal analogy model. Thermal residual stress distribution at each layer in an asymmetrically laminated plate with PZT ceramic layer and thermally induced dome height were predicted using classical laminated plate theory. Thermal analogy model was applied to a bimorph cantilever beam and LIPCA-C2 actuator in order to confirm its validity. Finite element analysis considering thermal residual deformation showed that the bending behavior of piezoelectric composite actuator subjected to electric loads was significantly different according to the stacking sequence, thickness of constituent PZT ceramic and boundary conditions. In particular, the increase of thickness of PZT ceramic led to the increase of the bending stiffness of piezoelectric composite actuator but it did not always lead to the decrease of actuation distance according to the stacking sequences of piezoelectric composite actuator. Therefore, it is noted that the actuating performance of unimorph piezoelectric composite actuator is rather affected by bending stiffness than actuation distance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.5 s.248
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• pp.576-584
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• 2006

The actuating performance test of plate-type piezoelectric composite actuators having different lay-up sequences was experimentally carried out at simply supported and fixed-free boundary conditions. The actuating displacement of manufactured plate-type piezoelectric composite actuator (PCA) was measured using a non-contact laser displacement measurement system. Our results revealed that the actuating displacement with increasing applied electric field at a drive frequency of 1Hz increased non-linearly at the simply supported boundary condition whereas it almost linearly increased at the fixed-free boundary condition. On the other hand, the actuating displacement of piezoelectric composite actuator depended on the applied electric field in a drive frequency range from 1Hz to 10Hz, but its behavior was different in higher drive frequencies beyond 15Hz due to the occurrence of resonance. On the basis of the above experimental results, the bending characteristics of PCAs revealed different behavior depending on applied electric fields, drive frequencies as well as boundary conditions. Therefore, by investigating drive frequencies together with applied electric fields, actuating performance can be easily controlled and PCAs which were fabricated for this study will be sufficiently applied to pumping devices.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.220-230
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• 2006

Fracture behavior of a monolithic PZT and a plate-type piezoelectric composite actuator (PCA) has been investigated under a bending load at three points by an acoustic emission (AE) monitoring. AE signal from a monolithic PZT at the maximum bending load shows the characteristics of high amplitude and long duration with a low frequency band of $100{\sim}230kHz$ which is confirmed by fast Fourier transform (FFT). For a PCA, it is concluded that AE signals with high amplitude over 80dB and low dominant frequency band of $170{\sim}223kHz$ emitted in the stage I are due to the brittle fracture in the PZT layer and the delamination between the PZT layer and the adjacent fiber composite layer. Based on the above analysis of AE behavior and damage observations with an optical microscopy and a scanning electron microscopy, AE characteristics related to fracture behavior of asymmetrically laminated PCA have been elucidated.