Material research and development on piezoelectric ceramics, especially lead-free ceramics, was proposed from a viewpoint of relationships between piezoelectricity and elastic constants such as Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio. We developed a method to be convenient to measure acoustic wave velocities by an ultrasonic thickness gauge with high-frequency. From the change in longitudinal and transvers wave velocities before and after DC poling, it was found that the ceramic bulk density was important to improve the piezoelectricity in lead-free ceramics. As a result, the candidates of lead-free ceramic compositions with higher piezoelectricity were proposed. Furthermore, the ratio of transvers wave velocity to longitudinal wave velocity was clarified to estimate compositions with higher piezoelectricity. The measurement of sound velocities was an effective method for researching and developing high piezoelectric materials, and it was possible to design the material compositions of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics as well as lead-containing ceramics by the novel measuring method.
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