AGING AND RELIABILITY OF PMN-PZT MULTILAYER CERAMIC ACTUATORS.

Expected lifetime and reliability of multiplayer ceramic actuators were considered. 5 × 5 × 5 mm3 sized multilayer ceramic actuators with 60 ceramic sheet layers embedded internal electrodes were selected in this experimental analysis. Specially selected rectified AC bias was applied to the multilayer ceramic actuators to remove heating during charging and discharging process. 16 sets of multilayer ceramic actuators were tested for statistical analysis. Weibull function method was employed to calculate mean time to failure. Arrhenius model and power law model were considered to simulate experimental data. From the experimental data and theoretical consideration, equation of expected lifetime was estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]