Effects of loading contact on electric-power generation of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramic plate

To better understand the generation of electric power for piezoelectric PbZrTiO3 (PZT) ceramic plate (phi 25 mm), an attempt was made to investigate experimentally and numerically electric-power generation characteristics during cyclic bending under various loading fixtures (phi 0-phi 20 mm), i.e., different contact areas. Increasing the load-contact area on the PZT ceramic leads to a nonlinear decrease in the generated voltage. Decreasing contact area basically enhances the generated voltage, although the voltage saturates during loading when the contact area is less than phi 5 mm. A similar voltage is generated for phi 0 and phi 5 mm, which is attributed to strain status (ratio of compressive and tensile strain) and material failure due to different stress distribution in the PZT ceramic. On the basis of the obtained electric generation voltage, suitable loading conditions are clarified by loading with the phi 5 mm fixture, which generates a higher voltage and a longer lifetime of the PZT ceramic. From this approach, it is appeared that the area contact with the area ratio of 0.04 (phi 5 mm/phi 20 mm) is suitable to obtain the high efficiency of the electric voltage.