Performance analysis of piezoelectric bimorph generator

In this paper, the theoretical model and simulation of the performance of a piezoelectric (PZT) bimorph generator is introduced. The generator consists of two piezoelectric plates bonded on a substrate metal plate. For an effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (EECC) and the generated energy, the analytical formulae are established with the thickness ratio and the Young’s modulus ratio as variables. After giving correlative material parameters, the EECC and generated energy can be computed. The results show that there is a optimal thickness ratio for a piezoelectric bimorph generator to achieve the maximum EECC and electrical energy. The EECC and generated energy decrease with an increase of the Young’s modulus ratio. In addition, the influence of mechanical source on electrical energy generation and power output is also considered.     

压电悬臂梁发电装置的建模与仿真分析

为提高一定尺度压电复合悬臂梁（简称压电梁）的发电能力,建立了单、双晶压电梁发电能力的仿真分析模型,研究了结构尺寸、激励方式及材料性能等对其发电能力的影响规律。研究表明,在基板材料及激励条件相同时,存在不同的最佳厚度比使单／双晶压电梁发电能力最大,双晶梁的最大发电量约为单晶梁的2倍。基板材料不同时,最佳厚度比随（基板与压电材料的）杨氏模量比的增加而减小,铝、钼基板构成的单／双晶压电梁的最佳厚度比分别为（0.7,0.32）和（0.45,0.2）。在相同的厚度比（0.5）及外界激励条件下,杨氏模量比对两种电梁发电能力的影响不同,杨氏模量低于3.3时,双晶梁的发电量均大于单晶梁。     

基于圆弧限位的压电发电装置

提出一种基于圆弧限位压电发电装置来提高发电能力及可靠性。介绍了该装置的结构及工作原理,建立了其机电能量转换模型。通过模拟仿真分析获得了压电振子厚度比（基板与总厚度比）对最小限位圆弧半径及能量、及压电振子厚度和限位圆弧半径对电压及能量的影响规律。结果表明,最小限位圆弧半径随厚度比的增加而线性减小,且存在共同的最佳厚度比（0.35）使不同厚度压电振子的输出电压和能量最大;在最佳厚度比时,输出电压和能量随压电振子厚度增加或限位圆弧半径降低而增加。制作了一组限位圆弧半径不等的发电装置,并进行了相关试验测试。结果表明,压电振子的最大输出电压（变形量）仅与限位圆弧半径有关,故采用最小限位圆弧半径可同时获得最大的发电能力和较高的可靠性。     

基于能量法的双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置机电耦合系数分析

针对双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置机电两类能量通过压电效应耦合强弱的问题,将能量法应用到双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置机电耦合系数的分析中。开展了双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置机电耦合系数的理论分析,并建立了其与双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置尺寸参数和材料特性之间的关系,对双晶压电悬臂梁发电装置机电耦合系数与其尺寸参数和材料特性的关系模型进行了实验验证和数值模拟。研究结果表明,实验值与理论解有较好的一致性,且都在压电片厚度为0.25 mm时开路电压最大,验证了该理论模型的可靠性。此外,随着压电梁厚度比的不断增大,其机电耦合系数单调递增;同时,较大的弹性模量比有利于压电梁机电耦合系数的提高,且相对于钢弹性基片,铍青铜弹性基片更有利于压电梁机电耦合系数的提高。     

Evaluation of cellulose electro-active paper made by tape casting and zone stretching methods

Cellulose has been discovered as a smart material that can be used as sensor and actuator material. In this paper, cellulose smart material termed as electro-active paper (EAPap) is prepared by an automated process that includes tape casting and zone stretching. To evaluate characteristics of the EAPap, its Young’s modulus and piezoelectric charge constant are measured depending on the orientation angle, in comparison with the manually fabricated EAPap results. The zone stretching method can effectively align the cellulose fibers in the EAPap so as to improve its Young’s modulus as well as piezoelectric charge constant. The 0 degree oriented sample shows its maximum Young’s modulus and the 45 degree oriented sample exhibits the maximum piezoelectric charge constant. This 45 degree is associated with its shear piezoelectricity. The actuator performance of EAPap is evaluated by measuring its bending displacement depending on the orientation angle and the excitation voltage. The 45 degree oriented sample exhibits the maximum bending displacement. Details of the material preparation, the automation process, characterization and the actuator performance are addressed. This automated process that includes tape casting and zone stretching is suitable for mass production of the EAPap.     

Sensitivity analysis of plating conditions on mechanical properties of thin film for MEMS applications

In this paper, we report the detailed investigation into the effects of plating temperature and applied current density upon the mechanical properties of plated nickel film such as Young’s modulus and residual stresses. This method uses the resonance method of atomic force microscope, which does not require specially microfabricated cantilevers and additional experimental set-up. Thin layers of nickel are electroplated onto the tip surface of AFM cantilevers and plating thicknesses were measured at the end of each plating step. The self-deformation of the released AFM cantilever is also measured as a function of the plated nickel thickness, which is converted into the quantitative residual stress by appropriate mechanics. The measured Young’s modulus is as high as that of bulk nickel at low plating temperature and at low applied current density, but drastically drops at high temperature or current density. The dependence of Young’s modulus on the plating thickness is negligible in thin film less than few microns. The residual stress is also a strong function of the process conditions, and decreased with the elevation of the current density and plating temperature. And the intrinsic and extrinsic stresses of plated nickel are separated from the measured residual stress, and correlated with plating conditions. Dependence of the plated thickness on Young’s modulus and residual stress is also considered.     

A practical method for simultaneous determination of Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus of elasticity of thin films

In this paper, based on the exact analytical solution of axisymmetric deformation of the circular membrane fixed at its edge under the action of uniformly-distributed loads, we propose a new method to be able to simultaneously determine Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus of elasticity for thin films. We also present a set of exact formulas used for simultaneously determining Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus of elasticity for free-standing thin films or coating thin films without residual stresses or pre-tension. This method has the advantages of simplicity and reliability, and it doesn’t involve the substrate effect.     

Developing a bio-mechanotronic probing system for estimating soft tissue Young’s modulus in vivo

In many medical applications such as rehabilitation, clinical palpation, and manipulation of organs, it is important to characterize soft-tissue properties accurately. This paper presents a bio-mechatronic probing system that could be used for estimating soft tissue Young’s modulus in vivo. The system employs an electromagnetic spatial displacement sensor. The accuracy and reliability of the system were investigated. In addition, the effect of indentation rate on the variation of the values of the measured effective Young’s modulus was also studied. A series of elastomers with different Young’s modulus (ranged from 13.08 to 36.19 kPa) were assessed with both the probing system and a Hounsfield material testing machine. Intra-individual and inter-individual variations of the system were tested by five independent operators. The probing system was applied to assess the effective Young’s modulus of human body parts in vivo. Fifteen healthy female subjects with age of 22.5 ± 4.3 years old were included for the in vivo test. The system was shown to be highly accurate (R ² = 0.995) in comparison with the results obtained by the mechanical testing machine and had good reliability (intra-individual variation = 5.43%, inter-individual variation = 5.99%). The average effective Young’s modules of the region of umbilicus were 13.33 and 10.71 kPa for two different sites, respectively. Based on the results obtained, it is believed that this probing system was an accurate and reliable tool for rapidly assessing the mechanical properties of human body tissues in vivo.     

An analytical study on prediction of effective elastic constants of perforated plate

In this study, the validity of the Eshelby-type model for predicting the effective Young’s modulus and in-plane Poisson’s ratio of the 2-dimensional perforated plate has been investigated in terms of the porosity size and its arrangement. The predicted results by the Eshelbytype model are compared with those by finite element analysis. Whenever the ratio of the porosity size to the specimen size becomes smaller than 0.07, the effective elastic constants predicted by finite element analysis are convergent regardless of the arrangement of the porosities. Under these conditions, the effective Young’s moduli of the perforated plate can be predicted within the accuracy of 5% by the Eshelby-type model, which overestimates and underestimates the effective Poisson’s ratios by 10% and 6% for the plates with periodically and non-periodically arranged porosities, respectively.     

压电双晶片的有限元分析及实验

采用有限元分析方法,分析了压电双晶片悬臂梁的位移形变特征.研究了金属弹性层、压电陶瓷片的材料属性及几何尺寸对双晶片偏转位移的影响;计算了双晶片的弹性模量、厚度以及加载电压与位移形变产生弯应力的关系;通过位移测试、弯应力测试等相关实验对有限元分析进行了验证.当加载电压为60 V(120 Vp-p)时,双晶片的偏转位移和弯应力分别为166/μm和34.7 m·N,实验结果证明本文所建的有限元模型是合理有效的.此外,测试了压电双晶片的振动特性,测得其谐振频率为310 Hz,在该频率下加载20 Vp-p电压,其端部位移输出即可达1.7 mm.有限元分析结果及实验验证为压电双晶片结构的优化设计提供了依据.     

A method to calculate the reliability of the gas pipeline segment under axial compression

An algorithm is presented for probabilistic calculation of the gas pipeline strength reliability for the case when the ultimate strength of the pipe steel, compressing force, gas pressure, Young’s modulus, temperature drop, pipe thickness, and diameter are distributed normally.     

Reliability-based topology optimization with uncertainties

This research proposes a reliability-based topology optimization (RBTO) using the finite element method. RBTO is a topology optimization based on probabilistic (or reliability) constraints. Young’s modulus, thickness, and loading are considered as the uncertain variables and RBTO is applied to static and eigenvalue problems. The RBTO problems are formulated and a sensitivity analysis is performed. In order to compute probability constraints, two methods—RIA and PMA— are used. Several examples show the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing the classical safety factor method.     

Effect of tip geometry of atomic force microscope on mechanical responses of bovine articular cartilage and agarose gel

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of different Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tip geometries (sharp-conical and spherical tips) on the microscale Young’s modulus of bovine articular cartilage and agarose gel that is calculated by the method of the average point-wise modulus. The measurements of the microscale Young’s moduli of 3% agarose gel under a conical AFM tip (20.9±4.9 kPa) and under a spherical AFM tip (17.5±3.0 kPa), averaged over an indentation depth of 600 nm, were comparable. However, the microscale Young’s moduli of articular cartilage, as measured with a conical AFM tip (116.9±62.9 kPa), were significantly higher than the corresponding values under a spherical AFM tip (30.9±14.3 kPa). The results of the current study suggest that the AFM tip geometry affects the microscale measurements of the mechanical properties on the surfaces of biological materials. The findings of the study can help to elucidate more accurately the microscale mechanical properties on the surface layers of diverse biological materials including tissue-engineered cartilages with different material characteristics.     

压电双晶片和单晶片驱动下泵的输出性能研究

为从理论上获得压电泵在薄片型压电双晶片和单晶片(统称压电振子)驱动时的输出流量关系,需要获得二者振动时产生的容积变化量。假设压电振子在周边固定约束条件下,应用弹性薄板的小挠度弯曲变形理论,推导了压电双晶片和单晶片振动时的容积变化方程,并根据方程对铜基板直径为35mm,压电陶瓷直径为29mm,基板和压电陶瓷厚度同时为0.2mm和0.3mm 2种规格的压电单晶片和双晶片进行了振动容积计算。计算结果显示,相同基板和陶瓷厚度的双晶片振动产生的容积变化量是单晶片的2.3倍。将上诉压电振子应用到单腔压电泵上进行输送气体流量测试,获得的实际输出流量比在1.5~2倍之间,理论计算结果与试验测试结果比较接近。理论推导结果为比较双晶片和单晶片驱动下压电泵的输出能力提供了可靠依据。     

遥控器用压电发电装置的供电特性

提出利用压电发电装置替代电池为遥控器提供实时的能量供应。针对遥控器的操作方法和负载特性,提出采用脉冲激励和按压激励压电振子的实施方案,通过试验的方法研究了压电振子在两种激励方式下对恒流负载的供电特性。结果表明,脉冲激励可获得更多的电能,适合于较大负载的工作场合。压电振子固有频率一定时,其有效的工作时间随电流负载增加而缩短;电流负载一定时,存在最佳的压电振子固有频率使其有效供电时间最长。利用尺寸为50x50x0.5mm的悬臂梁型压电振子为汽车遥控器供电,1次脉冲激励生成的电能可满足汽车遥控器信号发射的功率需求,信号传输距离达到15米以上。     

Effect of micro-scale Young’s modulus and surface roughness on adhesion property to plasma-treated rubber surface

Adhesion between rubbers and metals is often the main cause of machine trouble. Therefore, efficient utilization of rubber in dynamic and static applications requires the modification of the adhesion property of the rubber surface without affecting the bulk characteristics. In this work, we have studied the mechanism of the reduction in adhesion force between medical rubber, chloride-isobutene-isoprene rubber (CIIR), and stainless steel by using surface wave-excited plasma treatment of the rubber surface with oxygen and argon gases. Experimental results showed that surface roughness derivations increased by about 10 times across the treatment, at maximum, corresponding to the increase in time. In addition, the micro-scale Young’s modulus of treated CIIR sheet increased by about 6.3 times at maximum from that of the untreated CIIR sheet. These changes in Young’s modulus and roughness at the surface of CIIR sheet are considered to be the main reasons for the plasma-assisted reduction of adhesion force between stainless steel ball (SUS 440C, JIS) and CIIR sheet.     

双作用压电泵绝缘压电振子的研究

为了提高压电泵的工作效率,提出了对压电泵中的动力元件-压电振子进行特殊绝缘处理,使压电振子在两个方向弯曲变形时都可以形成输出工作能力,即双面作用的绝缘压电振子。阐述了由一个绝缘压电振子形成两个工作腔体的双作用压电泵结构。根据小挠度弹性弯曲理论导出了绝缘圆形复合压电振子的弹性曲面微分方程,阐述了绝缘处理方案和过程,并对其绝缘特性进行分析。对绝缘压电振子进行了实验测试,实验结果表明：双作用绝缘压电振子不仅具有绝缘特性,而且具有良好的韧性和强度;其击穿电压比未绝缘处理压电振子的击穿电压提高了20～30V。为相关产品开发和科研提供了一种新型双面作用的压电驱动元件。     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Composition design and mechanical properties of BCC Ti solid solution alloys with low Young’s modulus

(Ti-Zr)-Mo-Nb alloys were studied to find some stabilized BCC solid solution with low Young’s Modulus. We propose a cluster-plusglue-atom model to solve the composition design of multi-component complex alloys from the structure viewpoint. The alloy composition is expressed with [cluster](glue atom)x according to the model, x denoting the number of glue atoms matching one cluster. Alloy structures were identified with XRD and optical microscopy (OM), and mechanical tests were finally carried on to the BCC alloys. The experimental results indicated that a series of β-Ti solid solution alloys with low Young’s modulus and good synthesized mechanical properties can be obtained with the cluster model, where the [CN14 cluster](glue)1 alloys given by of 1:1 cluster model have the optimum properties.     

两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置的宽频发电性能

研究一种两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置,以提高悬臂梁式压电发电装置在环境振源振动频率波动情况下的发电能力。建立了两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置的频率特性理论模型,并对该理论模型进行了有限元仿真验证,结果显示理论计算与有限元仿真结果基本一致。对两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置的频率特性模型进行了数值模拟,模拟显示:装置的前两阶模态频率比随着长度比、宽度比、厚度比及质量块的质量比的增大均出现一个最小值,且在长度比为0.8,宽度比为2.0,厚度比为1.0,质量块的质量比为0.5时,装置的前两阶模态频率比最小,结果表明通过合理设计两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置的结构参数,可以使得装置的前两阶模态频率最接近。最后,实例设计了两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置,并进行了试验测试,证实了优化后的两自由度悬臂梁压电发电装置具有宽频带发电能力。     

Determination of tensile properties and residual stresses of Ni-Co thin films

This paper reports tensile properties and residual stresses of Ni-Co thin films. To measure elastic (and plastic) properties, direct tensile tests using dog-bone type specimens are performed first. Assuming that residual stresses vary linearly through the film thickness, bending and membrane residual stress components are measured using cantilever beam and T-structure beam specimens, respectively. Averaged values of Young’s modulus, yield strength and tensile strength are found to be about 163GPa, 1,700MPa and 2,000MPa, respectively. The membrane and bending residual stress components are found to be about 825MPa and 47MPa, respectively.