Processing and properties of piezoelectric actuators developed by fused deposition technique

Fused Deposition of Ceramic (FDC) has been developed for rapid prototyping of electro-ceramic components via hot extrusion of ceramic-loaded polymer filaments. Several FDC filaments including PZT, PMN-PT ceramics, and electrode material (silver-palladium) have been developed and used successfully in the fabrication of a wide range of components. A new fused deposition facility capable of depositing up to four different materials in a single deposition step has also been designed and developed. Processing of single and multimaterial components and net-shape grain oriented parts is now under investigation. In this paper, processing and electromechanical properties of a few novel designs such as bellows, helical tubes, spiral and other multimaterial actuators are discussed