Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Nonlinear Piezoelectric Effects Including Minor Hystereses

Piezoelectric ceramics are often used in active structures for shape and vibration control. Since the operation range is not limited to small signals the nonlinear behaviour of the actuator under high electric loads has to be known. There are several approaches in literature to model the hysteretic effects, each having its assets and drawbacks. When a model is able to reproduce the minor loops of the strain - electric field hysteresis, it often lacks the consideration of stress dependence which is fundamental for actuators attached to elastic structures. On the other hand constitutive models which take into account all ferroelectric and ferroelastic effects are not capable of representing the minor hystereses in acceptable calculation times. In this work a phenomenological constitutive model is verified using the experimental data of an active plate structure. Therefore, the ceramic is characterised under mechanically unconstrained conditions and afterwards attached onto a steel plate. The bonding to the substructure leads to a mechanical stress depending on the actuation state of the ceramic. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)