Analysis of circular shape distributed piezoelectric actuators

This paper focuses on the development of distributed piezoelectric actuators (DPA) with part-circular shapes by using the PZT materials. The analytical models of part-circular shape DPA have been constructed in order to analyze and test the performance of the DPA products. In this paper, firstly, based on the theory of electromagnetics, DPA has been considered as one kind of capacitors. The charge distribution density on the interdigitated electrodes, which has been applied in the actuators, and the capacitance of DPA have been concluded. The accurate distribution and intensity of electrical field in DPA element have also been calculated completely. Secondly, based on the piezoelectric constitutive relations and the compound plate theory, the models for mechanical strain and stress fields of DPA have been developed, and the performances of part-circular shape DPA have been discussed. Finally, on the basis of the models that have been developed in this paper, the improvement design of part-circular shape DPA has been discussed and summed up at the end of this paper. Due to the minimum hypotheses that have been used during the process of conclusion, the characteristics of this paper are that the accurate distribution and intensity of electrical field in DPA have been concluded. The proposed accurate calculations have not been seen in the literature, and can be used in the DPA design and manufacture process in order to improve the mechanical performance and reduce the cost of DPA products in further applications. In this paper, all the processes of analysis and conclusion have been done by MATLAB and MathCAD. The finite element method results used for comparing have been completed with the ABAQUS finite element programme.