Piezoelectric ceramic fibers for active fiber composites: a comparative study

The morphology and the free strain performances of three different piezoelectric ceramic fibers used for the manufacture of active fiber composites (AFCs) have been investigated. The morphology of the fibers has a direct influence on the manufacture of the AFCs. Fibers with non-uniform diameters are more difficult to contact with the interdigitated electrodes and can be the cause of irreparable damages in AFCs. An indirect method requiring the use of a simple analytical model is proposed to evaluate the free strain of active fiber composites. This indirect method presents a relatively good agreement with direct free strain measurements performed with strain gages glued on both sides of an AFC. The results show a systematic difference of ca. 20 % between the indirect and the direct methods. However, the indirect method did not permit to see differences of piezoelectric performance between the types of fibers.