Investigating potential substrates to maximize out-of-plane deflection of piezoelectric macro-fiber composite actuators

Abstract

The work summarized here explores the application of various substrate materials to macro-fiber composites for the purpose of generating curvature. This research experimentally determines the free strain of the macro-fiber composite through its full range of actuation and then examines the resulting deflections when bonded to various substrates. In addition, loads are applied to the resulting unimorph while in a cantilever configuration and the deflections recorded. These results are used to validate finite element models, which are used to explore further design possibilities, including a bimorph configuration. The goal of this work is to determine the substrates that maximize curvature in both unloaded and loaded configurations. The results show that using thin and high modulus substrates results in the largest deflection under loading.