An electrode analysis for multilayer ceramic actuators

Electroelastic field concentrations ahead of electrodes in multilayer piezoelectric actuators are examined. By considering a representative unit in real multilayer actuators, the problem is formulated directly in terms of the electric potential between the electrode tips, results in a hyper-singular integral equation in which the unknown function is the electric potential. The analysis model is validated by comparison with a 2D finite-element analysis. The influence of the piezoelectric coupling coefficients on the field intensity factors is significant, suggesting that fully coupled electromechanical model established in this paper is worthwhile. The horizontal electric field component ahead of the electrode tips is highly singular. Since the stresses and electric displacements are singular behind the electrode tips, possible debonding between the electrodes and the piezoelectric medium needs to be considered when designing multilayer actuators.