Modeling (2-2) piezocomposites partially sliced in the polymer phase

Different attempts have been suggested to improve the efficiency of piezocomposites. Here, a new design which consists of subdicing the passive part of (2-2) composites is presented. A theoretical model based on the series-parallel connections of elastic sections has been developed. It is shown that the cuts increase the electromechanical coupling coefficient. The model shows that, at high ceramic percent, the resonance frequency decreases when cutting the composite. At low ceramic percent the behavior is the opposite. Samples of (2-2) piezocomposites with low, medium, and high ceramic percent have been made, comparing predictions with experimental results. The agreement is satisfactory. With this composite structure, another design parameter is added to the search for better piezocomposite performance.