STRESSED-BIASED ACTUATORS: LATERAL STRESS AND LOADING EFFECTS.

The dielectric, impedance, and displacement characteristics for stress-biased Thunder TM actuators with varying degrees of lateral stress were measured under applied load. The steady-state displacement was larger for devices with higher lateral stress and devices under low external loading, than devices with less applied stress. Devices with higher lateral stress had significantly lower initial displacement due to stress induced domain pinning. Displacement resonances were shifted to lower applied masses for devices with higher internal stress. The impedance showed a sharp increase at low loading for Thunders TM , indicating an increased absorption of input energy under applied load, though the dielectric constant decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]