Influence of polarization orientation on the effective properties of piezoelectric composites

The effective properties of 0-3- and 1-3-type piezoelectric composites of l ead zirconate titanate and vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene with diffe rent polarization status in both phases are calculated using an effective-m edium theory. The effects of volume fraction and polarization orientation o n the effective behavior are presented in detail. The theory gives results in reasonable agreement with recent experimental ones. The theoretical pred ictions demonstrate the interesting behavior of the composites and provide a general guideline for optimizing the microstructural scale of the composi tes for piezoelectric transducers and pyroelectric sensors. (C) 2000 Americ an Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)01913-7].