Investigation on the Mechanical Effects of Electrodes to Multi-layer Piezoelectric Actuators by Using Finite Element Analysis

A multi-layer piezoelectric actuator (PEA) stacks piezo thin layers which can convert electric energy to deformation. It is widely used to generate nano-scale displacements. It is well known that the more layers one can stack for a given overall PEA length, the more deformation it can produce when excited by the same voltage. As a result, there is a tendency to reduce the thickness of piezo layers. This means more layers can be stacked within a given PEA overall length. It however raises a question about the impacts of electrode thickness on the static and dynamic behaviours of a PEA when the thickness ratio of piezo layer and electrode changes. In this research, a FEA model is therefore established in ANSYS to investigate the effects of electrodes to static and dynamic characteristics of the whole structure.