Piezoelectric Ceramic/Metal Bending Actuators with Functionally Graded Microstructures

Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Metal-Particle-Dispersed PZT-Matrix Composites

“…The dielectric constant ε r significantly increases with increasing metal content in the range of 0~26vol% Pt or 0~15vol% Ag. Such an increase in dielectric constant is because effective dielectric fields develop between the dispersed particles in the matrix [4]. By comparison, dielectric constant of the Pt-dispersed composite is larger than the Ag-dispersed one at the same metal content.…”

“…However, the inherent defect in such actuators is deterioration of the bonding after a long period of use. A solution to these problems is to introduce graded microstructure into the interface between the piezoelectric ceramic plate and metal shim by using the concept of functionally graded materials (FGM) [1][2][3][4]. As for such FGM piezoceramic actuators, the compositional design is very important to endow them with sufficiently good electric-induced displacement characteristics, which are greatly dependent on the compositional profile of the graded microstructure; an optimal one exists which possesses best electromechanical properties.…”

Design, Processing and Evaluation of Graded Piezoelectric Ceramic Bending Actuators

“…As the first approach, our work has been focused on the lead zirconate titanate (PZT)/ platinum (Pt) system. A series of our investigations [1][2][3][4][5][6] have revealed that the PZT/Pt systems have the following advantages: first, the addition of the Pt particles into the PZT matrix improves the mechanical properties of the composites [1]. Secondly, graded PZT/Pt actuators can be easily fabricated by normal sintering in air because Pt is inert to PZT and oxygen at high temperature [2,3].…”