Characterization of Mechanical Loss in Piezoelectric Materials Using Temperature and Vibration Measurements

Abstract

In this research, a unique approach for characterizing mechanical loss in piezoelectric materials is developed. Instead of characterizing mechanical loss through electrical measurements, thermal and mechanical measurements are used. A comprehensive heat transfer model has been developed to describe the temperature rise due to heat generation in piezoelectric materials in resonance conditions. Using this model, along with experimental temperature and vibration measurements, the mechanical quality factor can be calculated. Advantages of this method over electrical impedance methods include high sensitivity to change in losses due to precise temperature and vibration measurements and evaluation of losses from a single frequency (versus a frequency sweep). This method has been applied to a hard PZT ceramic at several frequencies near its fundamental resonance at a tip vibration velocity of 300 mm/s RMS. In these high power conditions, the standard deviation of the mechanical quality factor resulting from the impedance data was 15%, while those resulting from the new method are less than 2.5%. The results from the impedance measurements using a constant vibration velocity sweep agree with the magnitude of the quality factor calculated from new method, giving evidence to its validity.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 30, 2014
Source ID
10.1111/jace.12998

Entities

People

  • Husain N. Shekhani
  • Kenji Uchino

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • Office of Naval Research Global
  • Pennsylvania State University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Geodesy
  • Materials Science and Engineering.