Nonlinear static characteristics of piezoelectric bending actuators under strong applied electric field

Static behaviors of piezoelectric cantilever actuator under large electric field have been studied and a nonlinear relationship between the tip deflection or blocking force and the strong applied electric field is proposed. It has been shown that as the magnitude of the electric field increases, the tip deflection or blocking force rapidly increases and the difference between experimental results and linear predictions becomes large. However, the nonlinear predictions based on the present model well agrees with the experimental results within a wide range of applied electric field. The results of the analysis are believed to be useful for materials selection and actuator structure design of actuator in actuator fabrication. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.