An Examination of the ThermopiezoelectricEffect in Piezoelectric Actuators Via Finite Elements

The application of piezoelectric actuators in smart structures is a rapidly developing field, especially in aerospace environments. Since thermal effects play an important role in aerospace environments, thermopiezoelectricity has been studied as it takes into account the thermal field in addition to the mechanical and electrical fields. As a result, the coupling effects among these three fields have to be considered, including the pyroelectric (change in the electric potential due to the presence of a thermal field) and electrocaloric (change in the temperature when an electric field is applied) effects. This thesis presents an examination of how these coupled effects can affect the performance of piezoelectric bender and stack actuators in varying external environments. More specifically, this thesis investigates the influence of the pyroelectric and electrocaloric effects on the positioning and dynamic performance of these actuators in static and dynamic cases by using a custom written finite element code that considers the three fully coupled field equations of thermopiezoelectricity.

Author dc:creator

• Toledo, Rafael Chaves

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Orszulik, Ryan

• Aerospace engineering
• Engineering
• Mechanical engineering

Statement dc:rights

• Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/41794

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/41794