Nonlinear modeling of d33-mode piezoelectric actuators using experimental vibration analysis

This article focuses on characterizing the nonlinear nature of the piezoelectric actuators' '33'-electromechanical coupling and '3'-directional elasticity. Vibrations of a cantilever aluminum beam, attached with a pair of d(33)-mode surface bondable multilayer actuators, were studied to construct the required nonlinear constitutive equation. As both elasticity and electromechanical coupling were of equal interest, a sequential experimental procedure was followed to conduct an exclusive analysis of each of them. Accordingly, first, the actuators were short-circuited, and a set of displacement-frequency-response plots were obtained for the first and second bending modes. The profile of the backbone curve of the response plots revealed the presence and the nature of the nonlinearity in the elastic domain. Equipped with the knowledge of the nonlinear elastic behavior, nonlinearity in electromechanical coupling was then investigated from a set of response plots obtained through the piezoelectric actuation of beam. Here too, the profile of the backbone curves revealed the type of nonlinearity present in the electromechanical behavior. With the information obtained from these two steps, a final nonlinear constitutive equation was constructed to represent both the nonlinear elasticity and the nonlinear electromechanical coupling in the actuator. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This article focuses on characterizing the nonlinear nature of the '33'-electromechanical coupling and '3'-directional elasticity of piezoelectric actuators. Experimental procedures were carried out to analyze the nonlinear behavior in both elasticity and electromechanical coupling, leading to the construction of a final nonlinear constitutive equation representing both aspects.