Graded piezoelectric cylinders subjected to high electric fields and comparison of their frequency response with piezoelectric plates (Q2510345)

The authors investigate an axisymmetric problem for a long, radially polarized piezoceramic cylinder with graded piezoelectric properties under high electric field. Such fields have been reported to drastically change the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the materials, mainly due to the domain wall motion. Thus the treatment requires a nonlinear model as the material coefficients become field-dependent. The authors provide an analysis of the changes in dielectric and piezoelectric coefficients, and propose explicit forms for such changes which provide some flexibility in dealing independently with each coefficient. A Galerkin finite element method is used to solve the governing equations of piezoceramic medium under harmonic electric loading. Numerical results are provided for the stress, displacement, resonance, and frequency response of the material. Comparison is carried out between homogeneous and graded cylinders, and the effects of nonlinearity are assessed. In particular, it is shown that the effective stress was higher within the graded cylinder than within the homogeneous cylinder, and that the nonlinearity caused by the domain wall motion was less pronounced for the graded cylinder than for the homogeneous cylinder. Comparison is also given between the performances for piezoelectric graded cylinders and plates. The authors reach the conclusion that unlike for graded plates, which have a more desirable frequency response than homogeneous plates, graded cylinders are not superior to homogeneous cylinders.