Piezo films with adjustable anisotropic strain for bending actuators with tunable bending profiles

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to create in-plane polarized piezo films with adjustable anisotropic strains, enabling tunable bending profiles in actuators, demonstrated with PZT sheets and electrode design considerations.

Contribution

It presents a novel technique for producing piezo films with adjustable in-plane strain ratios using a specific electrode pattern, allowing customizable bending profiles in actuators.

Findings

Successful demonstration with PZT sheets

Strain ratio tuning affects displacement magnitude

Electrode layout parameters influence performance

Abstract

We present a method to produce in-plane polarized piezo films with a freely adjustable ratio of the strains in orthogonal in-plane directions. They can be used in piezo bending actuators with a tunable curvature profile. The strains are obtained as mean strains from a periodic polarization pattern produced by a suitable doubly interdigitated electrode structure. This mechanism is demonstrated for several examples using PZT sheets. We further discuss how this tuning and the parameters of the electrode layout affect the overall magnitude of the displacement.