Abstract
An electric fatigue test system has been developed for piezoelectric actuator with a mechanical loading capability. Fatigue responses of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) multilayer actuator (MLA) with a plate-through electrode configuration have been studied under an electric field (1.7 times that of a coercive field of PZT material) and a concurrent mechanical preload (30.0 MPa). A total of 1.0x10^9 cycles were carried out.
Variations in charge density and mechanical strain under a high electric field and constant mechanical loads were observed during the fatigue test. The dc and the first harmonic (at 10 Hz) dielectric and piezoelectric coefficients were subsequently characterized by using FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation). It has been observed that both the dielectric and the piezoelectric coefficients underwent a monotonic decrease prior to 2.86x10^8 cycles under the relevant preload, and then fluctuated to a certain extent. Both the dielectric loss tangent and the piezoelectric loss tangent also exhibited the fluctuations after a certain amount of drop but at different levels relative to the pre-fatigue. And finally, the results were discussed with respect to domain wall mobility, microcracking, and other pre-existing anomalies.
