The High Drive Properties of Whisker Reinforced Piezoelectric Ceramics

The properties under high drive conditions of disk specimens of whisker reinforced composite ceramics are compared with the similar properties of commercially available nonreinforced ceramics of the same general family. The ceramics are of the lead zirconate titanate type with the whisker content of two grades of alpha alumina (sapphire) in five weight percent amount. Observations are made of stress, strain, electric field, resonant frequency, modulus, and electrical impedance. It is found that the whisker reinforced materials exhibit good linearity of stress, strain, resonant frequency, and modulus at high drive when compared with commercial samples of the same family, which are often markedly nonlinear. The conclusion is drawn that specimens, even of “soft” type ceramic, when whisker reinforced, are made “hard” in many of their properties. [This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research.]