Mj. Hoffmann et al., Correlation between microstructure, strain behavior, and acoustic emissionof soft PZT ceramics, ACT MATER, 49(7), 2001, pp. 1301-1310
The influence of grain size and domain configuration on the microscopic and
macroscopic electromechanical properties of soft lead zirconate titanate (
PZT) ceramics were studied. Fine- and coarse-grained PZT ceramics with an a
verage grain size of 1.5 and 3.5 mum were prepared using the conventional m
ixed oxide route and different sintering, conditions (1225 degreesC/2 h and
1300 degreesC/10 h). The experiments were performed on PZT with different
Zr/Ti-ratios in order to obtain pure tetragonal (45/55), pure rhombohedral
(60/40), and morphotropic (54/46) compositions. To distinguish between the
intrinsic and extrinsic effect microscopic strain measurements (Synchrotron
X-ray diffraction) were compared with macroscopic measurements of the mech
anical hysteresis loop. The results were correlated with acoustic emission
measurements which microscopically reflected the intrinsic and extrinsic co
ntributions to the macroscopic strain of the different crystallographic mod
ifications. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd
. All rights reserved.