Experimental investigation on the effect of environmental stress on active fiber composite actuators

Donald G. Morris; Nesbitt W. Hagood; Alessandro E. Pizzochero

doi:10.1117/12.351588

9 July 1999 Experimental investigation on the effect of environmental stress on active fiber composite actuators

Donald G. Morris, Nesbitt W. Hagood, Alessandro E. Pizzochero

Proceedings Volume 3674, Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351588
Event: 1999 Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 1999, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

Active Fiber Composite (AFC) actuators comprise piezoelectric fibers, polymer matrix, and interdigital electrodes. They are conformable, robust and have higher strain actuation than standard in-plane PZT actuators due to the 33 mode of actuation offered by interdigital electrodes. Taking advantage of the 33 actuation necessitates the alignment of the poling axis and load path axis. Piezoelectric material are more vulnerable to stress induced depolarization when the loading and poling axes are aligned than when they are transverse. The poled PZT fibers will remain poled as long as they are under sufficiently low mechanical, thermal, and electric fields. Extreme values of any of these environments will cause depolarization, resulting in substantially reduced actuation. The compressive stress levels along the poling axis required to depole bulk PZT-5A piezoceramic samples under low field excitation are well documented. An AFC is a more complicated system, however, and the compressive stress levels which cause depolarization are not necessarily the same as for bulk piezoceramics. This paper describes a set of experiments designed to determine the compressive stress induced depolarization limits of AFC actuators with PZT-5A fibers. Results indicate that the AFCs are much more robust to compressive stress induced depolarization than is suggested by data published on bulk piezoceramics.

Citation Download Citation

Donald G. Morris, Nesbitt W. Hagood, and Alessandro E. Pizzochero "Experimental investigation on the effect of environmental stress on active fiber composite actuators", Proc. SPIE 3674, Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies, (9 July 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351588

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available