Piezoelectric material selection for transducers under fuzzy environment

Piezoelectric ceramics are extensively investigated materials for transducer application. The selection of optimal piezoelectric material for this particular application is a tedious task. It depends upon various physical properties, including piezoelectric charge coefficient (d(33)), electromechanical coupling factor (K-p), dielectric constant (epsilon(r)), and dielectric loss (tan delta). The classical multiple attribute decision making (MADM) can be used for decision making if these properties are known precisely. However, these properties cannot be expressed by exact numerical values, since they are dependent upon the microstructure and fabrication process. Fuzzy-based MADM approaches can be helpful in such cases. In this paper, we have determined the ranks and rank indices (for degree of closeness) of important piezoelectric materials using fuzzy VlseKriterijumska Optimisacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) technique. PLZT(8/65/35) ((Pb-1 La-x(x))(ZryTi1 (y))O-3) and KNN-LT-LS ((K0.44Na0.52Li0.04)-(Nb0.84Ta0.10Sb0.06)O-3) consecutively are found to be the top-rank piezoelectric ceramics. This indicates that KNN-LT-LS can be used on behalf of lead-based piezo-ceramics.