Effect of Mechanical Loading on the Performance of Piezolelectric Transducer for the Health Monitoring of Composite Pressure Vessels

The performance of PZT (Piezoelectric Lead Zirconate Titanate) transducer was investigated under static tensile loading using a layered actuator/sensor network (SMART Layer). The performance of PZT transducer remained unchanged when the applied strain did not exceed the static failure strain of PZT, whereas the degradation of the performance obviously occurred when the applied strain exceeded the static failure strain of PZT. Also, the performance of PZT transducer depended not on the materials of the host structure but on the thermal residual strain induced during the cure cycle. Microscopic observation showed that the degradation of the performance is a consequence of the interfacial debonding between the PZT and copper layer.Copyright © 2004 by ASME