This paper reports on a novel technology for low-noise un-cooled detection of infrared (IR) radiation using a combination of piezoelectric, pyroelectric, electrostrictive, and resonant effects. The architecture consists of a parallel array of high-Q gallium nitride (GaN) micro-mechanical resonators coated with an IR absorbing nanocomposite. The nanocomposite absorber converts the IR energy into...

Ni-Fe alloy/ZnO nanorod composites were fabricated and the magnetoelectric effect was demonstrated. The ZnO and Ni-Fe alloy serve as the piezoelectric phase and the magnetostrictive phase in the nanocomposite, respectively. Since the nanorod structure possesses the inherent nature of a large surface-to-volume ratio, it greatly enhances the interplay between the piezoelectric and magnetostrictiv...

Piezoelectric transducers have been widely used for the generation and detection of ultrasonic waves for structural health monitoring. Recently, we proposed the use of inductive coupling in order to implement wireless coupling to a Lamb wave transducer. In that transducer the ultrasonic waves were generated by a piezoelectric wafer attached to the surface of a plate. These transducers are effec...

This paper presents the numerical modeling of a plate structure containing bonded piezoelectric material. Hamilton’s principle is employed to derive the finite element equations using the mechanical energy of the structure and the electrical energy of the piezoelectric material. Then, a numerical model is developed based on Kirchhoff’s plate theory. A computational program is implemented for an...

An exact solution is obtained for the three-dimensional deformations of simply supported laminated rectangular thick plates with embedded shear mode piezoelectric actuators, subjected to mechanical and electrical loading on the upper and lower surfaces. Each layer of the laminate is made of either an orthotropic elastic material or a piezoelectric material whose poling direction lies in the pla...

The coupling effects between the mechanical and electric properties of piezoelectric materials have drawn significant attention for their potential applications as sensors and actuators. In this investigation, two piezoelectric actuators are symmetrically surface bonded on a cross-ply composite laminate. Electric voltages with the same amplitude and opposite sign are applied to the two symmetri...

2014 Recent experiments have shown that interdigital transducers can couple strongly to plate modes in piezoelectric composite membranes. In this paper the dispersive properties and the piezoelectric coupling (039403BD/03BD) to these plate modes are presented The various types of modes are identified and related to crystalline symmetry. Results are given for stiffened-shear modes in zinc oxide ...

We consider initial and boundary value problems modelling the vibrations of a plate with piezoelectric actuator. The simplest model leads to the Bernoulli-Euler plate equation with right hand side given by a distribution concentrated in an interior curve multiplied by a real valued time function representing the voltage applied to the actuator. We prove that, generically with respect to the cur...

Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems operate online and test different materials using ultrasonic guided waves and piezoelectric smart materials. These systems are permanently installed on the structures and display information on the monitor screen. The user informs the engineers of the existing damage after observing signal loss which appears after damage is caused. In this paper health...

Piezoelectric initiators are a unique form of ignition for energetic material because the current and voltage are tied together by impact loading on the crystal. This study examines the ignition response of an energetic composite composed of aluminum (Al) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) nano-powders to the arc generated from a lead zirconate and lead titanate (PZT) piezocrystal. The mechanical s...