ELECTROMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF 1-3 PIEZOELECTRIC CERAMIC PIEZOELECTRIC POLYMER COMPOSITES

A study of the fabrication and electromechanical properties of piezoel ectric 1-3 ceramic/polymer composites is reported in which the polymer phase, as well as the ceramic phase, is piezoelectric. Composites wer e prepared by both layering and dice-and-fill techniques. In the dice- and-fill technique, the major problem was preventing damage to the cer amic rods during the filling process. Both types of composite were fou nd to present problems in the poling process. The electromechanical pr operties of the composites were measured and compared with modeling re sults. In general, it was found that the composite properties agreed w ith model predictions, with the exception of the piezoelectric coeffic ients, which were significantly lower than predicted.