Modeling and measurement of creep- and rate-dependent hysteresis in ferroelectric actuators

We present a new model for the simulation of the hysteretic large-signal behavior in ferroelectric materials. The model is based on the Preisach operator and takes advantage of an analytic weight function for the underlying fundamental switching operators. The five independent parameters describing this weight function have been determined for a discoidal piezoceramic actuator by adapting the model output to measurements of the polarization. Since the classical Preisach model is only valid for creep- and rate-independent hysteresis loops, it is inappropriate to describe the entire ferroelectric material behavior. Therefore, we extended our model by an additional drift operator to consider creep phenomena. Furthermore, the rate-dependence of the hysteresis loops is described by a frequency-dependent parameter of the analytic weight function. For the identification and verification of the model, measurements have been performed using two different measurement principles: A modified Sawyer-Tower circuit as well as a method based on the integration of the electrical current. The agreement between measurements and simulations highlights the benefits of the enhanced hysteresis model. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.