Properties of Love waves in layered piezoelectric structures

Love waves propagating in a layered structure with an elastic layer deposited on a piezoelectric substrate are analytically investigated. We present a general dispersion equation that describes the properties of Love waves in the structure. A detailed discussion regarding the dispersion equation is presented, and the parameters for Love-mode sensors are also introduced. The properties of Love waves are illustrated by means of sample results for a layered structure with an SiO₂ layer sputtered on an ST-cut 90°X-propagating quartz substrate. Interestingly, we found that a threshold-normalized layer thickness existed for the fundamental Love mode in such a structure.     

Surface electro-elastic Love waves in a layered structure with a piezoelectric substrate and a dielectric layer

The existence and behaviour of electro-elastic surface Love waves in a structure consisting of a piezoelectric substrate of crystal classe 6, 4, 6 mm, 4 mm, 622 or 422, an elastic layer and a dielectric medium is considered. The mathematical model obtained includes all the above crystal classes, i.e. the surface wave problems related to all these classes are presented in a single mathematical model. The dispersion equation for the existence of Love surface waves with respect to phase velocity is obtained. A detailed investigation of the electromechanical coupling coefficient is carried out depending on the dielectric and piezoelectric parameters of the problem. Geometrical investigation of the solutions of the dispersion equation is carried out.     

Surface electro-elastic Love waves in a layered structure with a piezoelectric substrate and two isotropic layers

Propagation of electro-elastic surface Love waves in a structure consisting of a piezoelectric half-space substrate of crystal class 6, 4, 6 mm or 4 mm and two layers, one of which (adjacent to the substrate) is a conducting material and the second is either a conducting or a dielectric material, is considered. The mathematical model obtained includes all the above crystal classes i.e. the surface wave problems related to all these classes are presented in a single mathematical model. The dispersion equation for the existence of Love surface waves with respect to phase velocity is obtained. Numerical calculations are carried out for three different layered structures. The effect of the second layer on the propagation behaviour of the surface Love wave in the structure is revealed.     

Propagation behavior of Love waves in a functionally graded half-space with initial stress

The propagation behavior of Love waves in a functionally graded material layered non-piezoelectric half-space with initial stress is taken into account. The Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) technique is adopted for the theoretical derivations. The analytical solutions are obtained for the dispersion relations and the distributions of the mechanical displacement and stress along the thickness direction in the layered structure. First, these solutions are used to study the effects of the initial stress on the dispersion relations and the group and phase velocities, then the influences of the initial stress on the distributions of the mechanical displacement and shear stresses along the thickness direction are discussed in detail. Numerical results obtained indicate that the phase velocity of the Love waves increases with the increase in the magnitude of the initial tensile stress, while decreases with the increase in the magnitude of the initial compression stress. The effects on the dispersion relations of the Love wave propagation are negligible as the magnitudes of the initial stress are less than 100 MPa. Some other results are obtained for the distributions of field quantities along thickness direction. The results obtained are not only meaningful for the design of functionally graded structures with high performance but also effective for the evaluation of residual stress distribution in the layered structures.     

A three-layer structure model for the effect of a soft middle layer on Love waves propagating in layered piezoelectric systems

A three-layer structure model is proposed for investigating the effect of a soft elastic middle layer on the propagation behavior of Love waves in piezoelectric layered systems, with "soft" implying that the bulk-shear-wave velocity of the middle layer is smaller than that of the upper sensitive layer. Dispersion equations are obtained for unelectroded and traction-free upper surfaces which, in the limit, can be reduced to those for classical Love waves. Systematic parametric studies are subsequently carried out to quantify the effects of the soft middle layer upon Love wave propagation, including its thickness, mass density, dielectric constant and elastic coefficient. It is demonstrated that whilst the thickness and elastic coefficient of the middle layer affect significantly Love wave propagation, its mass density and dielectric constant have negligible influence. On condition that both the thickness and elastic coefficient of the middle layer are vanishingly small so that it degenerates into an imperfectly bonded interface, the three-layer model is also employed to investigate the influence of imperfect interfaces on Love waves propagating in piezoelectric layer/elastic substrate systems. Upon comparing with the predictions obtained by employing the traditional shear-lag model, the present three-layer structure model is found to be more accurate as it avoids the unrealistic displacement discontinuity across imperfectly bonded interfaces assumed by the shearlag model, especially for long waves when the piezoelectric layer is relatively thin.     

Propagation of Love waves in a functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) layered composite system

In this theoretical study, we investigate the propagation of Love waves in a layered structure consisting of two different homogenous piezoelectric materials, an upper layer and a substrate. A functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) buffer layer is in between the upper layer and the substrate. We employ the power series technique to solve the governing differential equations with variable coefficients. The influence of the gradient coefficients of FGPM and the layer thicknesses on the dispersion relations, the electro-mechanical coupling factor, and the stress distributions of Love waves in this structure are investigated. We demonstrate that the low gradient coefficient raises the significant variation of the phase velocity within a certain range of ratios of upper layer thickness to equivalent thickness. The electro-mechanical coupling factor can be increased when the equivalent thickness equals one or two wavelengths, and the discontinuity of the interlaminar stress can be eliminated by the FGPM buffer layer. The theoretical results set guidelines not only for the design of high-performance surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices using the FGPM buffer layer, but also for the measurement of material properties in such FGPM layered structures using Love waves.     

On the propagation of waves in a cylindrically layered fluid

Summary Some considerations have been given about the wave guiding properties of a cylindrical region of fluid of which the density and the velocity of sound differs from the surrounding fluid. The existence and the number of waves is discussed.     

Love waves in functionally graded piezoelectric materials

To investigate the features of Love waves in a layered functionally graded piezoelectric structure, the mathematical model is established on the basis of the elastic wave theory, and the WKB method is applied to solve the coupled electromechanical field differential equation. The solutions of the mechanical displacement and electrical potential function are obtained for the piezoelectric layer and elastic substrate. The dispersion relations of Love waves are deduced for electric open and short cases on the free surface respectively. The actual piezoelectric layer–elastic substrate systems are taken into account, and some corresponding numerical examples are proposed comparatively. Thus, the effects of the gradient variation about material constants on the phase velocity, the group velocity, the coupled electromechanical factor and the cutoff frequency are discussed in detail. So the propagation behaviors of Love waves in inhomogeneous medium is revealed, and the dispersion and the anti-dispersion are analyzed. The conclusions are significant both theoretically and practically for the surface acoustic wave devices.     

Effect of a biasing electric field on the propagation of symmetric Lamb waves in piezoelectric plates

This paper is concerned with the effect of a biasing electric field on the propagation of Lamb waves in a piezoelectric plate. On the basis of three dimensional linear elastic equations and piezoelectric constitutive relations, the differential equations of motion under a biasing electric field are obtained and solved. Due to the symmetry of the plate, there are symmetric and antisymmetric modes with respect to the median plane of the piezoelectric plate. According to the characteristics of symmetric modes (odd potential state) and antisymmetric modes (even potential state), the phase velocity equations of symmetric and antisymmetric modes of Lamb wave propagation are obtained for both electrically open and shorted cases. The effect of a biasing electric field on the phase velocity, electromechanical coupling coefficient, stress field and mechanical displacement of symmetric and antisymmetric Lamb wave modes are discussed in this paper and an accompanying paper respectively. It is shown that the biasing electric field has significant effect on the phase velocity and electromechanical coupling coefficient, the time delay owning to the velocity change is useful for high voltage measurement and temperature compensation, the increase in the electromechanical coupling coefficient can be used to improve the efficiency of transduction.     

Effect of a biasing electric field on the propagation of antisymmetric Lamb waves in piezoelectric plates

Based on the theories of anisotropic elasticity, piezoelectricity and elastic waves in solids, the propagation of antisymmetric Lamb waves in a biasing electric field is investigated in this paper. By solving the coupled differential equations of motion under a biasing electric field, the phase velocity equations of antisymmetric Lamb wave modes for electrically open and shorted cases are obtained, respectively. The beating effect arising from the difference between the phase velocity of the zero-order symmetric mode and antisymmetric mode exists in the plate when the plate has a thickness comparable to or slightly larger than the wavelength. The influence of the biasing electric field on the phase velocity, beat wavelength, mechanical displacement and stress fields for the lowest two antisymmetric modes of Lamb waves are discussed in detail. From the calculated results, it is seen that the phase velocity of the fundamental antisymmetric mode is especially sensitive to the applied biasing electric field.     

A note on the propagation of waves in a continuously layered medium

Summary The propagation of time harmonic waves in a certain continuously layered medium is considered. The wave numberk=k() is assumed to vary with the Cartesian coordinate ; the law of variation is taken to be the one studied by Epstein. An integral representation for the wave function in this medium is derived. The method by which this is done is considerably simpler than the usual treatment of the problem with the aid of hypergeometric functions.     

Band gaps of elastic waves in three-dimensional piezoelectric phononic crystals with initial stress

In this paper, the stop band properties of elastic waves in three-dimensional piezoelectric phononic crystals with initial stress are studied taking the mechanical and electrical coupling into account. The band gap characteristics for three kinds of lattice arrangements (i.e. sc, bcc and fcc) are investigated by the plane wave expansion (PWE) method. Regarding the variables of mechanical and electrical fields as the elements of the generalized state vector, the expression of the generalized eigenvalue equation for three-dimensional piezoelectric periodic structures is derived. Numerical calculations are performed for the PZT-2/polymer and ZnO/polymer phononic crystals. It can be observed from the results that the fcc lattice is more favorable to create the stop band than the sc and bcc lattices for the piezoelectric phononic crystals, which has also been proved for the pure elastic periodic structures. Compared with the PZT-2/polymer systems, the band gap of the sc lattice for the ZnO/polymer structures is narrower. However, the widths of the bcc and fcc lattices for the ZnO/polymer phononic crystals are much larger than those for the PZT-2/polymer structures. The lattice arrangements and the piezoelectricity have remarkable influences on the stop band behaviors.     

The effect of rotation and initial stress on the propagation of waves in a transversely isotropic elastic solid

In this paper the equations governing small amplitude motions in a rotating transversely isotropic initially stressed elastic solid are derived, both for compressible and incompressible linearly elastic materials. The equations are first applied to study the effects of initial stress and rotation on the speed of homogeneous plane waves propagating in a configuration with uniform initial stress. The general forms of the constitutive law, stresses and the elasticity tensor are derived within the finite deformation context and then summarized for the considered transversely isotropic material with initial stress in terms of invariants, following which they are specialized for linear elastic response and, for an incompressible material, to the case of plane strain, which involves considerable simplification. The equations for two-dimensional motions in the considered plane are then applied to the study of Rayleigh waves in a rotating half-space with the initial stress parallel to its boundary and the preferred direction of transverse isotropy either parallel to or normal to the boundary within the sagittal plane. The secular equation governing the wave speed is then derived for a general strain–energy function in the plane strain specialization, which involves only two material parameters. The results are illustrated graphically, first by showing how the wave speed depends on the material parameters and the rotation without specifying the constitutive law and, second, for a simple material model to highlight the effects of the rotation and initial stress on the surface wave speed.     

Surface electro-elastic shear horizontal waves in a layered structure with a piezoelectric substrate and a hard dielectric layer

The existence and behaviour of surface electro-elastic shear horizontal waves in a layered structure consisting of a piezoelectric substrate of crystal class 6, 4, 6mm, or 4mm mechanically bonded at its upper surface to an elastic dielectric layer and bounded by an adjacent dielectric medium is considered when the shear bulk wave velocity in the elastic layer is greater than or equal to that in the substrate. The dispersion equation for the existence of the surface electro-elastic SH waves with respect to the phase velocity is obtained which includes all the above crystal classes i.e. the surface wave problems related to all these classes are presented in a single mathematical model. The investigation of the solutions of the dispersion equation is carried out and all the possible cases of the behaviour of the surface electro-elastic SH wave depending on the electro-mechanical coefficients of the layered structure are revealed.     

Effect of surface stress and surface-induced stress on behavior of piezoelectric nanobeam

A new continuum model is developed to study the influence of surface stress on the behaviors of piezoelectric nanobeams. Different from existing piezoelectric surface models which only consider the surface properties, the proposed model takes surfaceinduced initial fields into consideration. Due to the fact that the surface-induced initial fields are totally different under various boundary conditions, two kinds of beams, the doubly-clamped beam and the cantilever beam, are analyzed. Furthermore, boundary conditions can affect not only the initial state of the piezoelectric nanobeam but also the forms of the governing equations. Based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, the nonlinear Green-Lagrangian strain-displacement relationship is applied. In addition, the surface area change is also considered in the proposed model. The governing equations of the doubly-clamped and cantilever beams are derived by the energy variation principle. Compared with existing Young-Laplace models, the proposed model for the doubly-clamped beam is similar to the Young-Laplace models. However, the governing equation of the cantilever beam derived by the proposed model is very different from that derived by the Young-Laplace models. The behaviors of piezoelectric nanobeams predicted by these two models also have significant discrepancies, which is owing to the surface-induced initial fields in the bulk beam.     

Effects of initial stress on the reflection and transmission waves at the interface between two piezoelectric half spaces

The effects of initial stress on the reflection and transmission waves at the interface between two piezoelectric half spaces are studied in this paper. First, the secular equations in the traverse isotropic piezoelectric half space are derived from the general dynamic equation with initial stress taken into consideration. Then, the interface conditions that displacement, stress, electric potential, and electric displacement are continuous across interface are required to be satisfied by three sets of coupled waves, namely, quasi-longitudinal wave, quasi-transverse wave and the electric–acoustic wave. The algebraic equations resulting from the interface conditions are solved to obtain the amplitude ratio of various waves and furthermore the energy reflection and transmission coefficients of various waves. The numerical results are shown graphically and the effects of initial stress are discussed.     

Propagation of Rayleigh-type surface waves in a layered piezoelectric nanostructure with surface effects

This work investigates the dispersion properties of Rayleigh-type surface waves propagating in a layered piezoelectric nanostructure composed of a piezoelectric nanofilm over an elastic substrate. As one of the most important features of nanostructures, surface effects characterized by surface stresses and surface electric displacements are taken into account through the surface piezoelectricity theory and the nonclassical mechanical and electrical boundary conditions. Concrete expressions of th...     

Effects of covering layer thickness on Love waves in functionally graded piezoelectric substrates

An analytical approach is used to investigate the effects of covering layer thickness on the propagation behavior of Love waves in functionally graded piezoelectric materials (FGPMs) covered with a dielectric layer. The piezoelectric substrate is polarized in the direction perpendicular to the wave propagation plane, and its material parameters change continuously along the thickness direction. The dispersion equations for the existence of Love waves with respect to phase velocity are obtained for electrically open and shorted cases, respectively. A detailed investigation of the effects of the covering dielectric layer thickness on dispersion curve, phase velocity, group velocity, and electromechanical coupling factor is carried out. Numerical results show that for a given FGPM, the covering dielectric layer thickness affects significantly the fundamental mode of Love waves but has only negligible effects on the high-order modes. The changes in phase velocity, group velocity, and electromechanical coupling factor due to the change of gradient coefficient of FGPMs could be approached approximately by changing the thickness of the covering dielectric layer, which imply a potential factor for designing new-type surface wave devices with FGPMs.