• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.541-549
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• 2007

This work describes an investigation into the feasibility of using an acoustic emission (AE) technique to evaluate the integrity of a composite actuator with a PZT ceramic under electromechanical cyclic loading. AE characteristics have been analyzed in terms of the behavior of the AE count rate and signal waveform in association with the performance degradation of the composite actuator during the cyclic tests. The results showed that the fatigue cracking of the composite actuator with a PZT ceramic occurred only in the PZT ceramic layer, and that the performance degradation caused by the fatigue damage varied immensely depending on the existence of a protecting composite bottom layer. We confirmed the correlations between the fatigue damage mechanisms and AE signal types for the actuators that exhibited multiple modes of fatigue damage; transgranular micro damage, intergranular fatigue cracking, and breakdown by a short circuiting were related to a burst type signal showing a shortly rising and slowly decaying waveform with a comparably low voltage, a continuous type signal showing a gradual rising and slowly decaying waveform with a very high voltage and a burst and continuous type signal with a high voltage, respectively. Results from the present work showed that the evolution of fatigue damage in the composite actuator with a PZT ceramic can be nondestructively identified via in situ AE monitoring and microscopic observations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.870-879
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• 2007

In this study, various damage modes in bending unimorph piezoelectric composite actuators with a thin sandwiched PZT plate during bending fracture tests have been evaluated by monitoring acoustic emission (AE) signals in terms of waveform and peak frequency as well as AE parameters. Three kinds of actuator specimens consisting of woven fabric fiber skin layers and a PZT ceramic core layer are loaded with a roller and an AE activity from the specimen is monitored during the entire loading using an AE transducer mounted on the specimen. AE characteristics from a monolithic PZT ceramic with a thickness of $250{\mu}m$ are examined first in order to distinguish different AE signals from various possible damage modes in piezoelectric composite actuators. Post-failure observations and stress analyses in the respective layers of the specimens are conducted to identify particular features in the acoustic emission signal that correspond to specific types of damage modes. As a result, the signal classification based on waveform and peak frequency analyses successfully describes the failure process of the bending piezoelectric composite actuator exhibiting diverse failure mechanisms. Furthermore, it is elucidated that when the PZT ceramic embedded actuators are loaded mechanical bending loads, the failure process of actuator specimens with different lay-up configurations is almost same irrespective of their lay-up configurations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.4 s.247
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• pp.409-419
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• 2006

The actuating performance of plate-type unimorph piezoelectric composite actuators having various stacking sequences was evaluated by three dimensional finite element analysis on the basis of thermal analogy model. Thermal residual stress distribution at each layer in an asymmetrically laminated plate with PZT ceramic layer and thermally induced dome height were predicted using classical laminated plate theory. Thermal analogy model was applied to a bimorph cantilever beam and LIPCA-C2 actuator in order to confirm its validity. Finite element analysis considering thermal residual deformation showed that the bending behavior of piezoelectric composite actuator subjected to electric loads was significantly different according to the stacking sequence, thickness of constituent PZT ceramic and boundary conditions. In particular, the increase of thickness of PZT ceramic led to the increase of the bending stiffness of piezoelectric composite actuator but it did not always lead to the decrease of actuation distance according to the stacking sequences of piezoelectric composite actuator. Therefore, it is noted that the actuating performance of unimorph piezoelectric composite actuator is rather affected by bending stiffness than actuation distance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.126-129
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• 2001

LIPCA (LIghtweight Piezo-composite Curved Actuator) is an actuator device which is lighter than other conventional piezoelectric ceramic type actuator. LIPCA is composed of a piezoelectric ceramic layer and fiber reinforced light composite layers, typically a PZT ceramic layer is sandwiched by a top fiber layer with low CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) and base layers with high CTE. LIPCA has curved shape like a typical THUNDER (thin-layer composite unimorph feroelectric driver and sensor), but it is lighter an than THUNDER. Since the curved shape of LIPCA is from the thermal deformation during the manufacturing process of unsymmetrically laminated lay-up structure, an analysis for the thermal deformation and residual stresses induced during the manufacturing process is very important for an optimal design to increase the performance of LIPCA. To investigate the thermal deformation behavior and the induced residual stresses of LIPCA at room temperature, the curvatures of LIPCA were measured and compared with those predicted from the analysis using the classical lamination theory. A methodology is being studied to find an optimal stacking sequence and geometry of LIPCA to have larger specific actuating displacement and higher force. The residual stresses induced during the cooling process of the piezo-composite actuators have been calculated. A lay-up geometry for the PZT ceramic layer to have compression stress in the geometrical principal direction has been designed.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1231-1236
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• 2007

This study presents the static and dynamic actuating performances of a bending piezoelectric actuator with a thin sandwiched PZT plate under a static load. The stored elastic energy within the actuators which occurs during a curing process is obtained through a flexural bending test. An actuating performance is evaluated in terms of an actuating displacement at the simply supported condition. The results reveal that an actuator that consists of a top layer having a high elastic modulus and a low coefficient of thermal expansion exhibits a better performance than the rest of actuators due to the formation of the large stored elastic energy within the actuator system. When actuators are excited at the alternating current voltage, the effect of PZT ceramic softening results in a slight reduction in the resonance frequency of each actuator as the applied electric field increases. It is thus suggested that the static and dynamic actuating characteristics of bending piezoelectric actuators with a thin sandwiched PZT plate should be simultaneously considered in controlling their performances.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.880-888
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• 2007

This article describes the load capability of bending piezoelectric actuators with a thin sandwiched PZT plate in association with the stored elastic energy induced by an increased dome height after a curing process. The stored elastic energy within the actuators is obtained via a flexural mechanical bending test. The load capability is evaluated indirectly in terms of an actuating displacement with a load of mass at simply supported and fixed-free boundary conditions. Additionally, a free displacement under no load of mass is measured for a comparison with an actuating displacement. The results reveal that an actuator with a top layer having a high elastic modulus and a low coefficient of thermal expansion exhibits a better performance than the rest of actuators in terms of free displacement as well as actuating displacement due to the formation of the large stored elastic energy within the actuator system. When actuators are excited at AC voltage, the actuating displacement is rather higher than the free displacement for the same actuating conditions. In addition, the effect of PZT ceramic softening results in a slight reduction in the resonance frequency of each actuator as the applied electric field increases. It is thus suggested that the static and dynamic actuating characteristics of bending piezoelectric composite actuators with a thin sandwiched PZT plate should be simultaneously considered in controlling the performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.286-289
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• 2004

This paper presents the fatigue characteristics of LIPCA (LIghtweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) device system. The LIPCA device system is composed of a piezoelectric ceramic layer and fiber reinforced lightweight composite layers. Typically a PZT ceramic layer is sandwiched by a top fiber layer with low CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) and base layers with high CTE. The advantages of the LIPCA design are weight reduction by using the lightweight fiber reinforced plastic layers without compromising the generation of high force and large displacement and design flexibility by selecting the fiber direction and the size of prepreg layers. To predict the degradation of actuation performance of LIPCA due to fatigue, the cyclic electric loading tests using PZT specimens were performed and the strain for a given excitation voltage was measured during the test. The results from the PZT fatigue test were implemented into CLPT (Classical Laminated Plate Theory) model to predict the degradation of LIPCA's actuation displacement. The fatigue characteristic of PZT was measured using a test system composed of a supporting jig, a high voltage power supplier, data acquisition board, PC, and evaluated.

• Composites Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2003

This paper is concerned with the performance evaluation and comparison analysis fur several kinds of LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) device system. LIPCA device system is composed of a piezoelectric ceramic layer and fiber reinforced light composite layers, typically a PZT ceramic layer was sandwiched by a top fiber layer with low CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) and base layers with high CTE. To investigate the effect of lay-up structure of the LIPCA on the actuating performance, four kinds of actuator with different lay-up stacking sequence were designed, manufactured, and tested. The performance of each actuator was evaluated using an actuator test system consisted of an actuator supporting jig, a high voltage actuating power supplier, and a non-contact laser measuring system. From the comparison of the performance of the LIPCA prototypes, it was found that the actuator with higher coefficient of unimorph actuator can generate larger actuating displacement.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4 s.23
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• pp.130-135
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• 2005

This paper presents application possibility of Lightweight Piezoceramic Composite Actuator(LIPCA) to suppress vibration of dynamic structures as an actuator. LIPCA is composed of a piezoelectric layer, a carbon/epoxy layer and glass/epoxy layers. When compared to the bare piezoelectric ceramic(PZT), LIPCA has advantages such as high performance, durability and reliability. In this study, performances of LIPCA have been estimated in an active vibration control system. Experiments were performed on an aluminum beam with cantilever configuration. In this test, strain gages and single LIPCA are attached on the aluminum beam with epoxy resin. Digital ON-OFF control algorithm is applied into the system to exhibit performance of LIPCA as actuator in active vibration control system. First, we performed static actuation test of bare PZT and LIPCA in order to show the superiority of LIPCA. Secondly, we carried out beam vibration control test using LIPCA. The results showed LIPCA could suppress free vibration of the aluminum beam, which means that LIPCA can be applied as an actuator to control vibration of dynamic structures.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1514-1519
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• 2001

This paper is concerned with design, manufacturing and performance test of LIPCA ( Lightweight Piezo- composite Curved Actuator) using a top carbon fiber composite layer with near -zero CTE(coefficient of thermal expansion), a middle PZT ceramic wafer and a bottom glass/epoxy layer with high CTE. The main point of this design is to replace the heavy metal layers of THUNDER by thigh tweight fiber reinforced plastic layers without losing capabilities to generate high force and large displacement. It is possible to save weight up to about 30% if we replace the metallic backing material by the light fiber composite layer. We can also have design flexibility by selecting the fiber direction and the size of prepreg layers. In addition to the lightweight advantage and design flexibility, the proposed device can be manufactured without adhesive layers when we use epoxy resin prepreg system. Glass/epoxy prepregs, a ceramic wafer with electrode surfaces, and a graphite/epoxy prepreg were simply stacked and cured at an elevated temperature (177 $^{circ}C$ after following an autoclave bagging process. It was found that the manufactured composite laminate device had a sufficient curvature after detached from a flat mold. The analysis method of the cure curvature of LIPCA using the classical lamination theory is presented. The predicted curvatures are fairly in agreement with the experimental ones. In order to investigate the merits of LIPCA, a performance test of both LIPCA and THUNDE$^{TM}$ were conducted under the same boundary conditions. From the experimental actuation tests, it was observed that the developed actuator could generate larger actuation displacement than THUNDERT$^{TM}$.