Impact of microstructures and viscous liquid loading on electromechanical coupling factor and surface wave transference in a prestressed piezoelectric smart material layered structure

Abstract

Abstract The electromechanical coupling factor (K 2) is a key parameter in acoustic devices that acquaints the affect of piezoelectricity on the phase velocity of elastic waves. For conventional engineering applications, greater electromechanical coupling factor (K 2) are expected in surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. This present study investigates the impact of microstructures and viscous liquid loading on transference of Love-type surface wave in a prestressed piezoelectric smart material layered structure. A micropolar material as substrate is employed for capturing the microstructural influence. The study involves the extraction of dispersion equations for both electrically open and short conditions depicting explicitly the effects of viscosity and density of viscous liquid, microstructural parameters of the substrate, electromechanical coupling factor and material parameters of the prestressed piezoelectric layer. Some particular cases of the problem are derived and the obtained results are matched with the classical Love wave equation. PZT − 5H ceramic material as piezoelectric material and Aluminium-Epoxy as micropolar material, are considered for the investigation. The present study is meaningful in intensifying the performance of chemical and biochemical sensors working in a liquid environment.