Nonlinear Behavior of Piezoceramic Actuators

Nonlinear behavior of piezoceramics is a well-known phenomenon. For large stresses and/or strong electric fields it is described by various hysteresis curves. Quasi-static experiments exhibited hysteresis relations between excitation voltage and strain as well as between excitation voltage and electric displacement. This behavior can be modeled by using the classical Preisach model. On the other hand, typical nonlinearities of Duffing type such as jump phenomena, multiple stable amplitude responses at the same excitation voltage and frequency, and the presence of superharmonics in response spectra can be observed when piezoceramic actuators are excited near resonance, even at weak electric fields. In this paper, different experimental results for both quasi-static and dynamic nonlinear behavior and corresponding models are presented and compared. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)