{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/10013"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/10013","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Electrical Properties of Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators and Sensors","abstract":"Piezoceramic fiber composite (PFC) actuators and sensors offer many advantages over conventional monolithic piezoceramic devices. Conformable, durable and, when equipped with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), more responsive than regular monolithic devices, PFCs promise to revolutionize the application of piezoelectric materials. Developed by the NASA-Langley Research Center, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator and sensor is the most sophisticated PFC device yet invented. With superior qualities among PFCs in performance, behavior repeatability and manufacturability, the MFC has spawned great interest in the commercial and academic community as a tool in multitudinous engineering applications. While the MFC's characteristics render it a singularly useful device, limited characterization and modeling research on the MFC exists. Empirically designed and assembled, the MFC is poorly understood, especially in terms of its underlying operating principles, its dependence on design parameters and its electrical properties. The majority of published MFC studies focus on experimental quantification of MFC mechanical and actuation properties, and the research that attempts to model the MFC relies totally on finite element analysis. Published works widely assume that analytical models of the MFC are totally impossible. Rectifying gaps in the current body of MFC research, this study presents the first accurate analytical model of the static electrical field properties of the MFC. Implementing the techniques of conformal mapping, a branch of complex analysis, the following chapters derive a closed-form, exact analytical solution describing the electrical potential field and electrical field of the MFC's dual-IDE structure. Based on the conformal mapping solution for the MFC's electrical field, the electrical field of the commercially available MFC is examined and analyzed, introducing an intuitive knowledge of the MFC's operation. Demonstrating the utility of this solution in modeling the MFC, this work also predicts the capacitance and induced strain properties of a continuum of potential MFC designs and offers final suggestions on improving the current commercial MFC design. After establishing the theoretical underpinnings of the analytical MFC model, this report derives the conformal mapping solutions for the MFC, discusses the computational application of the resulting equations and then presents the results of numerical analyses executed using the new analytical model.","abstract_html":"Piezoceramic fiber composite (PFC) actuators and sensors offer many advantages over conventional monolithic piezoceramic devices. Conformable, durable and, when equipped with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), more responsive than regular monolithic devices, PFCs promise to revolutionize the application of piezoelectric materials. Developed by the NASA-Langley Research Center, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator and sensor is the most sophisticated PFC device yet invented. With superior qualities among PFCs in performance, behavior repeatability and manufacturability, the MFC has spawned great interest in the commercial and academic community as a tool in multitudinous engineering applications. While the MFC's characteristics render it a singularly useful device, limited characterization and modeling research on the MFC exists. Empirically designed and assembled, the MFC is poorly understood, especially in terms of its underlying operating principles, its dependence on design parameters and its electrical properties. The majority of published MFC studies focus on experimental quantification of MFC mechanical and actuation properties, and the research that attempts to model the MFC relies totally on finite element analysis. Published works widely assume that analytical models of the MFC are totally impossible. Rectifying gaps in the current body of MFC research, this study presents the first accurate analytical model of the static electrical field properties of the MFC. Implementing the techniques of conformal mapping, a branch of complex analysis, the following chapters derive a closed-form, exact analytical solution describing the electrical potential field and electrical field of the MFC's dual-IDE structure. Based on the conformal mapping solution for the MFC's electrical field, the electrical field of the commercially available MFC is examined and analyzed, introducing an intuitive knowledge of the MFC's operation. Demonstrating the utility of this solution in modeling the MFC, this work also predicts the capacitance and induced strain properties of a continuum of potential MFC designs and offers final suggestions on improving the current commercial MFC design. After establishing the theoretical underpinnings of the analytical MFC model, this report derives the conformal mapping solutions for the MFC, discusses the computational application of the resulting equations and then presents the results of numerical analyses executed using the new analytical model.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lloyd, Justin Michael"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Inman, Daniel J."],"committee_members":["Robertshaw, Harry H.","Leo, Donald"],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-06-17","date_published":"2004-06-17","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:00Z","subjects":["conformal mapping","capacitance","electrostatic modeling","actuator","MFC"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07092004-123926"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-07092004-123926","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/10013","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Inman, Daniel J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Robertshaw, Harry H.","Leo, Donald"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lloyd, Justin Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2011-08-06T16:02:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-08-06T16:02:36Z","2004-07-26"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2004-06-17"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["conformal mapping","capacitance","electrostatic modeling","actuator","MFC"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07092004-123926"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/10013"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Piezoceramic fiber composite (PFC) actuators and sensors offer many advantages over conventional monolithic piezoceramic devices. Conformable, durable and, when equipped with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), more responsive than regular monolithic devices, PFCs promise to revolutionize the application of piezoelectric materials. Developed by the NASA-Langley Research Center, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator and sensor is the most sophisticated PFC device yet invented. With superior qualities among PFCs in performance, behavior repeatability and manufacturability, the MFC has spawned great interest in the commercial and academic community as a tool in multitudinous engineering applications. While the MFC's characteristics render it a singularly useful device, limited characterization and modeling research on the MFC exists. Empirically designed and assembled, the MFC is poorly understood, especially in terms of its underlying operating principles, its dependence on design parameters and its electrical properties. The majority of published MFC studies focus on experimental quantification of MFC mechanical and actuation properties, and the research that attempts to model the MFC relies totally on finite element analysis. Published works widely assume that analytical models of the MFC are totally impossible. Rectifying gaps in the current body of MFC research, this study presents the first accurate analytical model of the static electrical field properties of the MFC. Implementing the techniques of conformal mapping, a branch of complex analysis, the following chapters derive a closed-form, exact analytical solution describing the electrical potential field and electrical field of the MFC's dual-IDE structure. Based on the conformal mapping solution for the MFC's electrical field, the electrical field of the commercially available MFC is examined and analyzed, introducing an intuitive knowledge of the MFC's operation. Demonstrating the utility of this solution in modeling the MFC, this work also predicts the capacitance and induced strain properties of a continuum of potential MFC designs and offers final suggestions on improving the current commercial MFC design. After establishing the theoretical underpinnings of the analytical MFC model, this report derives the conformal mapping solutions for the MFC, discusses the computational application of the resulting equations and then presents the results of numerical analyses executed using the new analytical model."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Electrical Properties of Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators and Sensors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Inman, Daniel J."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Robertshaw, Harry H.","Leo, Donald"],"dc:contributor.department":["Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Lloyd, Justin Michael"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2011-08-06T16:02:36Z"],"dc:date.available":["2011-08-06T16:02:36Z","2004-07-26"],"dc:date.issued":["2004-06-17"],"dc:description.abstract":["Piezoceramic fiber composite (PFC) actuators and sensors offer many advantages over conventional monolithic piezoceramic devices. Conformable, durable and, when equipped with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), more responsive than regular monolithic devices, PFCs promise to revolutionize the application of piezoelectric materials. Developed by the NASA-Langley Research Center, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator and sensor is the most sophisticated PFC device yet invented. With superior qualities among PFCs in performance, behavior repeatability and manufacturability, the MFC has spawned great interest in the commercial and academic community as a tool in multitudinous engineering applications. While the MFC's characteristics render it a singularly useful device, limited characterization and modeling research on the MFC exists. Empirically designed and assembled, the MFC is poorly understood, especially in terms of its underlying operating principles, its dependence on design parameters and its electrical properties. The majority of published MFC studies focus on experimental quantification of MFC mechanical and actuation properties, and the research that attempts to model the MFC relies totally on finite element analysis. Published works widely assume that analytical models of the MFC are totally impossible. Rectifying gaps in the current body of MFC research, this study presents the first accurate analytical model of the static electrical field properties of the MFC. Implementing the techniques of conformal mapping, a branch of complex analysis, the following chapters derive a closed-form, exact analytical solution describing the electrical potential field and electrical field of the MFC's dual-IDE structure. Based on the conformal mapping solution for the MFC's electrical field, the electrical field of the commercially available MFC is examined and analyzed, introducing an intuitive knowledge of the MFC's operation. Demonstrating the utility of this solution in modeling the MFC, this work also predicts the capacitance and induced strain properties of a continuum of potential MFC designs and offers final suggestions on improving the current commercial MFC design. After establishing the theoretical underpinnings of the analytical MFC model, this report derives the conformal mapping solutions for the MFC, discusses the computational application of the resulting equations and then presents the results of numerical analyses executed using the new analytical model."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-07092004-123926"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/10013"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["conformal mapping","capacitance","electrostatic modeling","actuator","MFC"],"dc:title":["Electrical Properties of Macro-Fiber Composite Actuators and Sensors"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:00Z"}