Fatigue and failure responses of lead zirconate titanate multilayer actuator under unipolar high-field electric cycling

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4813219· OSTI ID:1087479

Zeng, Fan W ^[1]; Wang, Hong ^[1]; Lin, Hua-Tay ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) multilayer actuators with an interdigital electrode design were studied under high electric fields (3 and 6 kV/mm) in a unipolar cycling mode. A 100 Hz sine wave was used in cycling. Five specimens tested under 6 kV/mm failed from 3.8 10^5 to 7 10^5 cycles, whereas three other specimens tested under 3 kV/mm were found to be still functional after 10^8 cycles. Variations in piezoelectric and dielectric responses of the tested specimens were observed during the fatigue test, depending on the measuring and cycling conditions. Selected fatigued and damaged actuators were characterized using an impedance analyzer or small signal measurement. A scanning acoustic microscope also was employed as a nondestructive tool to detect the presence of defects. Failed plates were subsequently sectioned, and the extensive cracks and porous regions were observed to be across the PZT layers. The results from this study have demonstrated that the high-field cycling can accelerate the fatigue of PZT stacks as long as the partial discharge is controlled. The small signal measurement can also be integrated into the large signal measurement to characterize the fatigue response of PZT stacks in a more comprehensive basis. The former can further serve as an experimental method to monitor the behavior of PZT stacks.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1087479
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 114, Issue 2; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English