Development of a Material Constitutive Model and Simulation Technique to Predict Nonlinearities in Piezoelectric Materials under Weak Electric Fields

Abstract

Piezoceramic materials exhibit different types of nonlinearities depending upon the magnitude of the mechanical and electric field strength in the continuum. Some of the nonlinearities observed under weak electric fields are: presence of superharmonics in the response spectra and jump phenomena etc. especially if the system is excited near resonance. It has also been observed by many researchers that, at weak alternating stress fields, the relationship between the piezoelectrically induced charge and applied stress in ferroelectric ceramics, has the same form as the Rayleigh law (for magnetization versus magnetic field) in ferromagnetic materials. Applicability of the Rayleigh law to the piezoelectric effect has been demonstrated for Lead Zirconate Titanate ceramics by many researchers and their experimental results indicate that the dominant mechanism responsible for piezoelectric hysteresis and the dependence of the piezoelectric coefficient on the applied alternating stress is the pinning of non-180° domain walls. In this chapter, the Rayleigh law for ferromagnetic hysteresis has been modified and incorporated in a nonlinear electric enthalpy function and then applied in the analysis of hysteresis behavior of piezoelectric continua. Analytical solutions have been derived for a cantilever beam actuated by two piezo-patches attached to the top and bottom of the beam and excited by opposite electric fields. Analysis has been carried out at different electric field excitations of varying amplitude and frequencies and the results have been compared with the available experimental results from literature.