Reliable modeling of piezoceramic materials utilized in sensors and actuators

Piezoceramic materials are widely utilized in actuator and sensor devices. In order to model the behavior of these devices and to reduce their development time, numerical simulation tools are frequently applied. However, the simulation results strongly rely on the material behavior assumed for piezoceramics. Here, we present approaches for reliable modeling of this material behavior which have been developed at the Chair of Sensor Technology (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg) in recent years. Both the small signal behavior and the large signal behavior of piezoceramic materials are discussed. For the identification of material parameters required within the small signal model, we apply a mathematical Inverse Method. The large signal behavior of piezoceramics is described by means of a phenomenological approach that is based on the so-called Preisach hysteresis operator. As the presented results for different piezoceramics clearly show, the utilized modeling approaches lead to reliable simulation results and can, therefore, be applied to predict the behavior of piezoceramic materials.