Novel piezoelectric ceramics and composites for sensor and actuator applications

 Novel piezoelectric ceramic, and ceramic /polymer composite structures were fabricated by solid freeform fabrication (SFF) for sensor and actuator applications. SFF techniques including: Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC), and Sanders Prototyping (SP) were utilized to fabricate a variety of complex structures directly from a computer aided design (CAD) file. Many novel and complex composite structures including volume fraction gradients (VFG), staggered rods, radial and curved composites, and actuator designs such as tubes, spirals and telescoping were made using the flexibility provided by the above processes. Radial composites with various connectivities in the radial direction were made for towed array applications. VFG’s were incorporated into some of these designs, with the ceramic content decreasing from the center towards the edges. Many new designs are also being used to manufacture high authority actuators utilizing the FDC technique. The telescoping actuation of the device is the summation of actuation of all individual tubes making of the actuator, therefore, increasing the number of the tubes which are the driving component of the actuator will further enhance the displacement. The design, fabrication and electromechanical properties of these sensor and actuator structures are discussed in this paper. Received: 2 November 1998 / Reviewed and accepted: 2 November 1998     

Active damping of laminated thin cylindrical composite panels using vertically/obliquely reinforced 1–3 piezoelectric composites

This paper deals with the analysis of active constrained layer damping (ACLD) of laminated thin composite panels using vertically and obliquely reinforced 1–3 piezoelectric composite materials as the material of the constraining layer of the ACLD treatment. A finite element model has been developed for analyzing the ACLD of laminated antisymmetric cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply thin composite panels integrated with the patches of such ACLD treatment. Both in-plane and out-of-plane actuations of the constraining layer of the ACLD treatment have been utilized for deriving the finite element model. The analysis revealed that the vertical actuation dominates over the in-plane actuation. Particular emphasis has been placed on investigating the performance of the patches when the orientation angle of the piezoelectric fibers of the constraining layer is varied in the two mutually orthogonal vertical planes. The analysis revealed that the vertically reinforced 1–3 piezoelectric composites which are in general being used for the distributed sensors can be potentially used for the distributed actuators of high performance light-weight smart thin composite panels.     

Finite element formulation for anisotropic coupled piezoelectro‐hygro‐thermo‐viscoelasto‐dynamic problems

A finite element algorithm has been developed for the efficient analysis of smart composite structures with piezoelectric polymer sensors or/and actuators based on piezoelectro‐hygro‐thermo‐viscoelasticity. Variational principles for anisotropic coupled piezoelectro‐hygro‐thermo‐viscoelasto‐dynamic problems have also been proposed in this study. As illustrative studies, dynamic responses in laminated composite beams and plates with PVDF sensors and actuators are obtained as functions of time using the present finite element procedures. The voltage feedback control scheme is utilized. The proposed numerical method can be used for analysing problems in the design of smart structures as well as smart sensors and actuators. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tensile strength at elevated temperature and its applicability as an accelerated testing methodology for unidirectional composites

The applicability of a macroscopic time-temperature superposition principle (TTSP) to unidirectional composite strength is discussed based on the microscopic Simultaneous Fiber-Failure (SFF) model that has been presented by Koyanagi et al. (J. Compos. Mater. 43:1901–1914, 2009a). The SFF model estimates composite strengths as functions of fiber, matrix, and interface strengths. This paper first investigates the applicability of SFF to the complicated temperature dependence of composite strengths, i.e., one composite exhibits significant temperature dependence and another does not, considering the temperature dependence of the components, which results in successful estimations for the two composite systems used in the present study. The long-term durability predicted by the SFF and that predicted by the TTSP are then compared. They typically correspond to each other in various cases; accelerated testing methodology (ATM) employing TTSP is thus proved to be valid from the micromechanical viewpoint, assuming the SFF applicability.     

Magnetoelectric properties of Ni/PZT/Ni layered composite for low field applications

A composite material when placed under the external magnetic/electric fields exhibits voltage/induced magnetization is known as magnetoelectric (ME) composite. Such composite materials should have ferroelectric and ferro/ferri magnetic phases as constituents. The magnetoelectric output is exhibited as a product property. Magnetoelectric composites are being used for variety of applications including resonators, filters, phase shifters, optical isolators, actuators and magnetic field sensors. Metal/ferroelectric/metal magnetoelectric composite using Ni and PZT as constituent phases has been fabricated in 2-2 composite pattern to study its product property. The paper presents magnetoelectric studies of Ni/PZT/Ni composite using low dc magnetic field magnetoelectric set-up. Using this ME set-up ME output of Ni/PZT/Ni composite is studied as a function of dc magnetic field. The results were analyzed to identify the useful magnetic field (dc and ac) range in which Ni/PZT/Ni sensor can be utilized for applications.     

Warm isostatic pressing (WIP''ing) of GS44 Si3N4 FDC parts for defect removal

Fused deposition of ceramics (FDC) is one of the developing solid freeform fabrication (SFF) techniques. The successful production of high performance ceramics by the FDC process requires that no defects exist in the green parts. However, build defects, such as missing roads, poorly bonded layers or sub-perimeter voids can be encountered in improperly built FDC parts. In this study, a method known as WIP'ing (warm isostatic pressing) was evaluated for its ability to eliminate existing defects in GS44 Si₃N₄ green FDC parts. Analogous to CIP'ing (cold isostatic pressing), the green FDC parts were rubber bagged and loaded into a pressure chamber filled with water soluble oil at different temperatures, ranging from 30 to 90°C, at pressures of up to 35 MPa. X-Ray radiography results indicated that at temperatures above 70°C, WIP'ing was effective in closing the gaps of the intentionally placed void defects in FDC parts. However, WIP'ing above 70°C was not effective in healing the defects completely. The fracture strengths of FDC parts with intentional added defects, WIP'ed above 70°C were substantially lower than control samples.     

Health monitoring of aerospace composite structures – Active and passive approach

Impact damage is one of the major concerns in maintenance of aircraft structures built from composite materials. Damage detection in composite materials can be divided into active and passive approaches. The active approach is usually based on various non-destructive techniques utilizing actuators and/or receivers. In contrast passive approaches do not involve any actuators; receivers are used to “sense and/or hear” any perturbations caused by possible hidden damage. Often strain data are used to localize impacts and estimate their energy. The assumption is that damage occurs above well-defined energy of impacts. The paper illustrates one active and one passive method recently developed for impact damage detection. The first method, based on guided ultrasonic waves, utilises 3-D laser vibrometry and does not require any signal processing. Simple laser scans, revealing the change in Lamb wave response amplitudes, have been used to locate delamination and estimate its severity in a composite plate. In contrast, the second method does not require any sophisticated instrumentation but relies on advanced signal processing. An array of piezoceramic sensors has been to detect strain waves transmitted from an impact applied to the composite aircraft structure. The modified multilateration procedure with Genetic Algorithms has been used to locate impact position.     

含压电作动器和传感器的复合材料层板静变形有限元分析和形状控制研究

本文研究了含压电作动器和传感器层的复合材料层板理论，建立了位移和电自由度的四节点有限元素，利用总势能最小原理推导了静力平衡方程，实现和验证了含压电作动器／传感器复合材料层板静态分析有限元程序。并对该类复合材料层板进行了形状控制研究。     

Analysis of active damping in composite laminate cylindrical shells of revolution with skewed PVDF sensors/actuators

Active damping in a FRP composite cylindrical shell with collocated piezoelectric sensors/actuators is studied. The electrode on the sensors/actuators are spatially shaped to reduce spillover between circumferential modes. A three noded, isoparametric, semianalytical finite element is developed and used to model the cylindrical shell. The element is based on a mixed piezoelectric shell theory which makes a single layer assumption for the displacements and a layerwise assumption for the electric potential. The effects of location of patch of collocated piezoelectric sensors/actuators, percentage length of the shell covered with these patches, fiber angle of the laminae in the composite laminate, stacking sequence of laminae in a laminate and skew angle of the sensor/actuator piezoelectric material, on the system damping for various modes is studied.     

功能梯度压电压磁圆柱轴对称的静力学响应

针对无限长功能梯度压电压磁空心圆柱,研究轴对称空心圆柱电磁弹耦合静力学问题。在柱坐标系下,假定材料参数沿径向为幂函数分布,推导出在外激励作用下空心圆柱体中位移、应力、电势以及磁势等物理场的解析解。数值讨论中,针对BaTiO₃-CoFeO₄复合材料空心柱体,在不同边界条件下得到了不同梯度参数及不同厚度下空心圆柱应力、电势和磁势的分布规律。结果表明,对于功能梯度压电压磁空心圆柱,材料的失效主要是由于环向应力引起的,且圆柱厚度对环向应力有着显著影响。此外,梯度参数强烈影响功能梯度压电压磁传感器/制动器的电/磁输出和力学性能。结果对压电压磁圆柱型传感器/制动器的设计和分析具有一定的指导作用。     

Optimal solid shell element for large deformable composite structures with piezoelectric layers and active vibration control

In this paper, we present an optimal low‐order accurate piezoelectric solid‐shell element formulation to model active composite shell structures that can undergo large deformation and large overall motion. This element has only displacement and electric degrees of freedom (dofs), with no rotational dofs, and an optimal number of enhancing assumed strain (EAS) parameters to pass the patch tests (both membrane and out‐of‐plane bending). The combination of the present optimal piezoelectric solid‐shell element and the optimal solid‐shell element previously developed allows for efficient and accurate analyses of large deformable composite multilayer shell structures with piezoelectric layers. To make the 3‐D analysis of active composite shells containing discrete piezoelectric sensors and actuators even more efficient, the composite solid‐shell element is further developed here. Based on the mixed Fraeijs de Veubeke–Hu–Washizu (FHW) variational principle, the in‐plane and out‐of‐plane bending behaviours are improved via a new and efficient enhancement of the strain tensor. Shear‐locking and curvature thickness locking are resolved effectively by using the assumed natural strain (ANS) method. We also present an optimal‐control design for vibration suppression of a large deformable structure based on the general finite element approach. The linear‐quadratic regulator control scheme with output feedback is used as a control law on the basis of the state space model of the system. Numerical examples involving static analyses and dynamic analyses of active shell structures having a large range of element aspect ratios are presented. Active vibration control of a composite multilayer shell with distributed piezoelectric sensors and actuators is performed to test the present element and the control design procedure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rutile structured SnO2 nanowires synthesized with metal catalyst by thermal evaporation method

One-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures such as tubes, rods, wires, and belts have attracted considerable research activities owing to their strong application potential as components for nanosize electronic or optoelectronic devices utilizing superior optical and electrical properties. Characterizing the mechanical properties of nanostructure is of great importance for their applications in electronics, optoelectronics, sensors, actuators. Wide-bandgap SnO2 semiconducting material (Eg = 3.6 eV at room temperature) is one of the attractive candidates for optoelectronic devices operating at room temperature, gas sensors, and transparent conducting electrodes. The synthesis and gas sensing properties of semiconducting SnO2 nanomaterials have became one of important research issues since the first synthesis of SnO2 nanobelts. Considering the important application of SnO2 in sensors, these structures are not only ideal systems for fundamental understanding at the nanoscale level, but they also have potential applications as nanoscale sensors, resonator, and transducers. The structured SnO2 nanorods have been grown on silicon substrates with Au catalytic layer by thermal evporation process over 800 degrees C. The resulting sample is characterized and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The morphology and structural properties of SnO2 nanowires were measured by scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The mean diameter of the SnO2 nanorods grown on Au coated silicon (100) substrate is approximately 80 nm. In addition, X-ray diffraction measurements show that SnO2 nanorods have a rutile structure. The formation of SnO2 nanowires has been attributed to the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanisms depending on the processing conditions. We investigated the growth behavior of the SnO2 nanowires by variation of the growth conditions such as gas partial pressure and temperature.     

Optical sensors for the determination of concentrated hydroxide

An optical sensor system has been developed for the determination of concentrated strong bases ([OH-] = 1-10 M). The base sensors consist of SiO2/ZrO2-organic polymer composites and doped high-pKa indicators. Films were obtained by spin-casting these composite materials on glass substrates and were used as sensor elements for the spectrometric determination of hydroxide. The hydrophilic nature of the mixed oxide SiO2/ZrO2 and its chemical stability in concentrated alkali made it attractive as support in the composites. The organic polymers in the composites either provided better mechanical stability and dye immobilization or enhanced OH- diffusion and sensor response. The composite sensors showed a relative standard deviation of less than 2%. The response time of a SiO2/ZrO2-Nafion composite (sensor 2) was short (5 s), and a small hysteresis was observed during reproducibility measurements with 1-4 M NaOH solutions. The sensors were found to be stable in 4 M NaOH during a 30-day durability test, showing a standard deviation of 3.0-4.7%. The diffusion kinetics and hysteresis performance of the sensors were also evaluated.     

Semiconductor metal oxide compounds based gas sensors: A literature review

This paper gives a statistical view about important contributions and advances on semiconductor metal oxide (SMO) compounds based gas sensors developed to detect the air pollutants such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), H₂S, NH₃, CO₂, acetone, ethanol, other volatile compounds and hazardous gases. Moreover, it is revealed that the alloy/composite made up of SMO gas sensors show better gas response than their counterpart single component gas sensors, i.e., they are found to enhance the 4S characteristics namely speed, sensitivity, selectivity and stability. Improvement of such types of sensors used for detection of various air pollutants, which are reported in last two decades, is highlighted herein.     

含压电作动器和传感器的复合材料层板静变形有限元分析和形状控制研究

本文研究了含压电作动器和传感器层的复合材料层板理论,建立了位移和电自由度的四节点有限元素,利用总势能最小原理推导了静力平衡方程,实现和验证了含压电作动器/传感器复合材料层板静态分析有限元程序。并对该类复合材料层板进行了形状控制研究。      

Active vibration damping of composite structures using a nonlinear fuzzy controller

The present paper presents a comprehensive methodology for the structural active vibration damping using a fuzzy logic control. The proposed application setup consists of a cantilever beam equipped with two pairs of collocated piezoceramic (PZT) actuators and sensors. The investigated carbon composite beam is modeled using a shell 2D-model on Abaqus commercial finite element code. The PZT patches are modeled as additional layers with a coupled electromechanical effect. Experimental data corresponding to the controlled and to the uncontrolled systems are also presented considering fixed frequency and pulse force excitation.     

Some aspects of numerical simulation for Lamb wave propagation in composite laminates

Some aspects of numerical simulation of Lamb wave propagation in composite laminates using the finite element models with explicit dynamic analysis are addressed in this study. To correctly and efficiently describe the guided-wave excited/received by piezoelectric actuators/sensors, effective models of surface-bounded flat PZT disks based on effective force, moment and displacement are developed. Different finite element models for Lamb wave excitation, collection and propagation in isotropic plate and quasi-isotropic laminated composite are evaluated using continuum elements (3-D solid element) and structural elements (3-D shell element), to elaborate the validity and versatility of the proposed actuator/sensor models.     

Adaptive composites incorporating shape memory alloy wires Part I Probing the internal stress and temperature distributions with a laser Raman sensor

Hybrid composite laminates consisting of an epoxy resin reinforced by aramid fibres and incorporating SMA wire actuators have been produced. The residual thermal stresses of the composites were determined with the technique of laser Raman spectroscopy and the generated compressive loads during SMA activation were quantified. The results obtained indicate that the SMA wires can be effectively used as actuating elements whereas the aramid fibres can be exploited as independent thermal and mechanical sensors.     

Nanoscale investigation of ferroelectric properties in electrospun barium titanate/polyvinylidene fluoride composite fibers using piezoresponse force microscopy

Ferroelectric nanostructures have broad applications in nanoscale electronic devices, sensors and actuators. In this study, a two-step electrospinning process was used to fabricate barium titanate (BaTiO₃)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite fibers. Microstructure examination showed that BaTiO₃ fibers were well-dispersed within the PVDF fiber matrix and aligned along the fiber axis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study revealed that crystalline phases corresponding to both PVDF and BaTiO₃ were found. The domain switching and associated ferro-/piezo-electric properties of the BaTiO₃-PVDF fibers were characterized. Polarization-electric field hysteresis loops obtained using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) confirmed the polar domain switching behavior of the fibers. Distinct strain-electric field hysteresis loops were also recorded. Hence, the fibers exhibited well-defined piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. The results show the potential of these nanostructured composite fibers for applications in miniaturized electronic devices and sensors.     

Solid freeform fabrication by extrusion and deposition of semi-solid alloys

Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) refers to techniques that create prototypes by a layer wise deposition of material. There are several techniques available, none of which allows the production of metallic prototypes without post processing, such as debinding or sintering. One of the SFF techniques, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM®), is a well established process for thermoplastic materials such as for example ABS. Based on the FDM® technique, a process is being developed that allows the extrusion and deposition of semi-solid metals (EDSSM). The microstructure of an alloy in the semi-solid state has been investigated as a function of parameters used for rapid prototyping with SFF techniques. The extrusion and deposition processes are dependent on the rheological properties of the semi-solid metal, which in turn are dependent on the microstructure. The effect of microstructure and rheological properties on the extrusion and deposition processes is discussed.