Piezoelectric Actuators for Sensor Applications

摘要

Piezoelectric actuators have been in existence for several decades; however their applications are limited to speakers, buzzers, and ultrasonic cleaners due to their fragility, cost, working environment, and mechanical restraints. Unimorphs, moonies, rainbows, thunders, lipcas, and radial field diaphragms, are all composite piezoelectric actuators that have been designed with the objective of creating an actuator that will be more durable, produce more displacement and force at a lower cost. Some of these actuators have addressed these issues and opened new ones on the modeling and device performance. The focus of this study is to identify the relevant design parameters to be considered when using thunder actuators as sensors. A parametric study was performed using curved pre-stressed actuator plates so that displacement with applied voltage, and voltage produced with an applied mechanical displacement could be measured and compared. Size and composition was varied to study its effects on energy conversion that is mechanical to electrical energy. Some parameters relevant to sensing, did not affect greatly actuation performance parameters.