Dynamic magnetoelectric effect in polymer-based laminate composite

The magnetoelectric (ME) effect is defined as an induced electric polarization in a material upon applying a magnetic field, or as an induced magnetization in a material upon applying an electric field. Such effect facilitates the conversion between energies stored in magnetic and electric fields. A new kind of ME laminated composites composed with 1-3 piezoelectric PZT/epoxy composite and pseudo-1-3 magnetostrictive Terfenol-D/epoxy composite was prepared in this paper. The dynamic coupled magnetic-mechanical-electric effect in such new composites was predicted using a simple method of equivalent circuit approach, and the results were proved valuable by our experimental data. The calculation results showed good agreement to the experimental data. Both data proved that the magnetoelectric coefficient is strongly dependent not only on the volume fraction of the PZT and Terfenol-D, but also on dc magnetic field. The results testify that the resonance frequency is affected simultaneously by the dc magnetic field and the volume fraction of the PZT and Terfenol-D. For such new type of ME composites, the quantitative relationship between ME coefficient with impact factors including materials, structure and field parameters were presented in theory for the first time through equivalent circuit approach. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.