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Tensile Behavior of PZT in Short and OpenCircuit Conditions

ARTICLE in MATERIALS LETTERS FEBRUARY 2004
Impact Factor: 2.49 DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2003.08.011

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Materials Letters 58 (2004) 986 990

www.elsevier.com/locate/matlet

Tensile behavior of PZT in short and open-circuit conditions

Olivier Guillon, Frederic Thiebaud *, Patrick Delobelle, Dominique Perreux
Laboratoire de Mecanique Appliquee R. Chaleat, UMR CNRS 6604, Universite de Franche-Comte, 25000 Besancon, France
Received 20 June 2003; accepted 8 August 2003

Abstract
Electrical boundary conditions influence the nonlinear electromechanical behavior of ferroelectric materials. In this study, a hard and a
soft PZT are tested under tensile loading in short and open circuit. Depolarization of the specimen or evolution of the electric field due to the
piezoelectric effect is recorded. Nonlinear stress strain curves are greatly affected by the electric field which appears in open circuit and
reduces ferroelastic domain switching.
D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Ferroelectrics; Mechanical properties; Tensile loading; Nonlinear behavior; Open circuit; Depolarization

1. Introduction
Ferroelectric ceramicsmore particularly lead titanate
zirconate (PZT)are used commonly in their linear range
as actuators or sensors in aeronautic, automotive, or electronic industries. They are however characterized by nonlinear phenomena when subjected to higher electric or
mechanical loading. Therefore, a better knowledge of their
behavior based on experimental work is essential to extend
their application fields.
The electrical boundary conditions are known to affect
significantly the linear response of a piezoelectric material
[1]. Pioneering work done by Berlincourt and Krueger [2]
shows that these conditions influence also the nonlinear
behavior of ferroelectric ceramics. The case of compressive
loaded hard and soft ceramics in short circuit has been
thoroughly examined [3,5 7]. The tensile response of this
kind of material is much less studied. Tanimoto et al. [8]
showed that the nonlinearity of the tensile stress strain
curves becomes remarkable as the test temperature
increases (from
30 to 150 jC). Fett measured the
depolarization due to 90j domain switching in tension
[9], which can be partially prevented by the simultaneous
application of an electric field acting along the poling
direction. On the contrary, the depolarization is much
stronger if the electric field is applied in the same direction
as the load.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-381666009; fax: +33-381666700.
E-mail address: frederic.thiebaud@univ-fcomte.fr (F. Thiebaud).
0167-577X/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2003.08.011

In this article, an experimental procedure is proposed and

results for a hard and a soft PZT in open and short circuit are
presented.

2. Experimental
Two different types of PZT were tested. PIC 255 (PI
Ceramic, Germany) is a soft material with a high piezoelectric coupling factor kp, high piezoelectric coefficients dij
and low mechanical Q. It is particularly indicated for actuators and high sensitive receivers applications. PC4D (produced by Morgan Matroc, UK) is a hard PZT, with a high
quality factor, a low relative permittivity, low dielectric
losses; its properties are interesting for dynamic or power
applications.
Uniaxial testing is difficult to carry out because nearly
perfect alignment of the specimen along the loading direction is required. A specific device was developed to test the
material, which is described elsewhere [10]. Specimens
machined from 2.5-mm-thick prepoled plates are used. A
non-constant section geometry guarantees a homogeneous
and uniaxial stress state in the central zone, which was
validated by FEM simulations. Extensometric gages are
positioned to measure longitudinal strain s11 normal to
polarization (Fig. 1). Disturbing bending moments due to
misalignment measured with additional gages glued on the
opposite electrode are found to be negligible. To investigate
nonlinear response of these materials, repeated growing
loading unloading cycles are performed until fracture

O. Guillon et al. / Materials Letters 58 (2004) 986990

987

test is roughly estimated at more than 1500 V, a capacitive

voltage divider is inserted between the sample and the
measuring device. Its capacitances shall overcome high
voltages and be two order of magnitudes smaller than the
PZT one to avoid any disturbance of the measurements. The
bridge is calibrated with a DC voltage source and the
electrometer.
To insulate the electrodes from the metallic testing
device and limit the charge production to the part of the
specimen subjected to a homogeneous stress field, metallized areas are reduced in size by polishing. The whole
sample and connectors, electric cables, etc. are carefully
cleaned and dried to eliminate moisture, grease and dust
and consequently electrical leakage.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Mechanical aspects
Fig. 1. Testing conditions.

occurs, maximum stress being increased gradually in a

10-MPa stepwise fashion. The loading rate is 2 MPa/s.
This loading profile let us decompose the reversible and
irreversible parts of the observed phenomena during the
test. Experiments were doubled and offered very good
repeatability.
In short circuit, electrodes are connected by means of a
5015 Kistler charge amplifier. In open circuit, according to
the high electric resistance of the ceramic specimen (about
50  109 V), a Keithley 6514 electrometer is required (entrance impedance 200  1012 V; maximal input voltage: 250
V). Given that the potential difference produced during the

First of all, stress is plotted against strain for both soft

and hard materials (Figs. 2 and 3). For low-level solicitations, these curves are linear under a threshold called
proportional limit. This limit does not seem to be dramatically influenced by the electric boundary conditions and is
about 8 MPa for soft PIC 255 and near 20 MPa for hard
PC4D. Youngs modulus values can be estimated by the
initial slope of these experimental curves (Table 1). They are
compared to manufacturers data determined by resonance
methods. Steady state results are in a general manner lower
than those measured dynamically, especially for the soft
ceramic. Indeed, the extrinsic effects due to domain wall
motion are probably responsible for this difference [11].
Furthermore, piezoceramics are stiffer in open circuit than in
short circuit as Youngs modulus at constant dielectric

Fig. 2. Stress strain curves for soft PIC 255.

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O. Guillon et al. / Materials Letters 58 (2004) 986990

Fig. 3. Stress strain curves for hard PC4D.

displacement Y D is linked to Y E at constant electric field by

the following equation:
D
E
Y11
Y11

1
2
1
k31

Coupling coefficient k31 can be evaluated in steady

state conditions too: 0.42 for PC4D instead of 0.32
(manufacturers data) and 0.58 instead of 0.35 for PIC
255. This signifies that PZT materials have a higher
capability to convert mechanical energy into electrical
one and vice versa under moderate loadings (in the order
of a few MPa) as ferroelectric domains take part in this
effect.
Under higher solicitations, nonlinear behavior appears
much more pronounced for PIC 255 than for PC4D. This is
a well-known consequence of the doping of ceramics.
Acceptor ions harden lead titanate zirconate by creating
oxygen vacancies, which reduce the ferroelectric domain
wall mobility [5]. Remnant strain after 50 MPa loading is
only 0.088% in short circuit for hard PZT, whereas it
reaches a value of 0.215% for the soft one. For both
ceramics, nonlinear strains are dramatically reduced in open
circuit so that PC4D behavior is hardly hysteretic. The same
trend is observed for maximum and remnant strains: as
stress increases, the difference between short- and opencircuit measurements rises. So strain under 50 MPa in open

Table 1
Youngs modulus measurements
Type

Hard (PC4D)
Soft (PIC 255)

E
Y11
in short circuit (GPa)

D
Y11
in open circuit (GPa)

Experiment

Manufact.

Experiment

Manufact.

77.4
43.8

81.3
62.1

94.1
65.7

93.4
70.6

circuit represents only 65% of the strain observed in shortcircuit conditions.

These peculiarities can be explained by the piezoelectric
effect. Under an applied stress, electric charges in open
circuit create an electric field parallel to the polarization.
This increasing electric field holds the electric dipoles in its
direction and thus counterbalances the harmful effect of
stress. These hypotheses will be further confirmed by
electrical measurements.
However, in tension, most of the nonlinear deformation
remains reversible and thus irreversible switching of
domains is not predominant. Unfortunately, fracture occurs
before the exhaustion of switchable domains available; the
mechanical behavior would be then expected to become
linear again as observed in compression tests.
3.2. Electrical aspects
3.2.1. Short circuit
In short circuit, depolarization under tensile loading is
confirmed by Fig. 4. These curves look like very similar to
these found in compression, when mechanical load is
applied parallel to the poling direction [3,5 7]. Depoling
threshold stresses are identical to those determined for the
nonlinear mechanical behavior (see Section 3.1.), which
demonstrates that both phenomena are related to stressinduced domain reorientation.
PIC 255 is quite sensitive to ferroelastic switching: after
40-MPa loading, the change in remnant polarization equals

1.55 AC/cm2, whereas it is limited to
0.50 AC/cm2 for
PC4D (which corresponds respectively to 3.9% and 1.1% of
the remnant polarization value given by the manufacturer).
Slope of the curves obtained during the first cycle is a
measure of piezoelectric coefficient d31. They are higher
(
222  10
12 C/N for PC4D and
430  10
12 C/N

O. Guillon et al. / Materials Letters 58 (2004) 986990

989

Fig. 4. Depoling of hard and soft PZT.

for PIC 255) than the values given by manufacturers

(
123  10
12and
180  10
12 C/N, respectively).
As previously for Youngs modulus calculations, this result
can be explained by the difference of measurement methods adopted: during steady state experiments, stresses
involved are nonsymmetric and much higher than in
dynamic testing conditions [11].
3.2.2. Open circuit
Due to the higher piezoelectric properties of PIC 255, a
1600-V potential difference appears under 50 MPa (in
comparison to 1100 V for hard PC4D, Fig. 5). Voltage
constant g13 is estimated by the slope of the linear part of the
stress electric field curve:
8.6  10
3 V m N
1 for PC4D
and
13.4  10
3 V m N
1 for PIC 255. These values are
close to those given by supplier (
10.5  10
3 and

11.3  10
3 V m N
1, respectively). The nonlinearity
of the curves is less pronounced than in short-circuit

conditions. Actually, as the electric displacement D is

defined by:
D eE P

and as it remains constant in open-circuit conditions, polarization is proportional to the electric field. Thus, depolarization might be less important in open than in short circuit
at the same stress level because the electric field counteracts
the effect of the applied tensile stress. A drift is observed
along the cycles, causing an inversion of the recorded
values. Apart from possible charge leakage reasons, this
fact is not explained.

4. Conclusion
Two types of PZT (hard and soft) were tensile tested in
open and short circuit. These electrical boundary conditions

Fig. 5. Open-circuit measurements for hard and soft PZT.

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O. Guillon et al. / Materials Letters 58 (2004) 986990

influence both linear and nonlinear mechanical response of

the ceramics. In open circuit, ferroelastic switching is
reduced by the piezolectrically produced electric field.
Electrical measurements were recorded too and confirm this
hypothesis.
Hard PZT is less subjected to irreversible than soft PZT.
However, even for PIC 255, depolarization and remnant
strain values are relatively low at these stress levels. That is
why results let us not exclude, at the very least for these
reasons, potential applications of PZT under such operation
conditions. From a more phenomenological point of view,
fracture occurs before saturation of domain switching and it
seems more interesting to study the complete behavior of
poled ceramics under a compressive stress (where ultimate
stresses are beyond 600 MPa, that is to say roughly 10 times
more than in tension).

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Pr. R. Bourquin for his
assistance in electrical measurements and M.C. Garcin and
Dr. P. Robinet for their technical support in mechanical
testing.

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