Abstract
To better understand the material properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the in situ mechanical and electrical properties have been investigated during cyclic mechanical loading. The elastic constant increases and the electrical properties (piezoelectric constant) decrease with increase of the applied load due to internal and external damage in the PZT ceramic, e.g., domain switching and electrode damage. The domain switching occurs randomly in the grains, and this causes lattice distortion leading to a high elastic constant On the other hand, the electrical properties decrease because of the domain switching as well as the damage in the electrode. Based upon the variation of the material properties, details of the damage characteristics are further discussed.
