Dimensional reduction study of piezoelectric ceramics constitutive equations from 3-D to 2-D and 1-D

Accurate performance evaluation is crucial to the design and development of macro/micro-sized piezoelectric devices, and key to this is the proper use of the stiffness/ compliance and piezoelectric coefficients of the piezoelectric ceramics involved. Although the literature points out effective piezoelectric coefficients e(31,f) and d(33,f) for thin film materials and reduced dimensionality of equations for bulk material, the elastic and piezoelectric coefficients remain unchanged from the 3-D equations in most reported 1-D and 2-D analyses of the macro/micro-sized devices involving the e form of the constitutive equations. The use of unchanged coefficients leads to variations between numerically predicted and experimental results in most devices. To understand effects of the dimensional reduction from 3-D to 2-D and 1-D on stiffness/compliance and piezoelectric coefficients, this paper derives the 2-D and 1-D constitutive equations from the 3-D equations, focusing on the discussion of often-required device configurations for sensor and actuator design and analysis. Two modified coefficients are proposed, termed reduced and enhanced, which enable better understanding of effects of the dimensional reduction and also effects on the design and analysis of sensors and actuators.