The use of complex material constants to model the dynamic response of piezoelectric materials

This paper discusses the use of complex material constants to model the response of piezoelectric materials to alternating fields. The various material constants needed to describe the behavior of piezoelectric materials in transducers are introduced. The reasons for using complex coefficients to characterize the frequency dependent dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric response of such materials are discussed. Several interpretations of the complex coefficients are reviewed