Measurement of Young's Moduli for Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Ceramics

Abstract Knowledge of the Young's moduli is necessary for piezoelectric ceramics in order to separate the total deformation into an elastic and a plastic contribution. The methods for the determination of the Young's moduli, well known from conventional ceramics, are much more complicated due to the special electrical boundary conditions. The main aim of the report is to discuss the question in which mechanical tests the conditions of a constant electrical field are fulfilled and in which type of test constant dielectric displacements occur. It will be illustrated that the results from tests with homogeneous stress states are much more trustworthy than results from bending tests.