Electrical Damping of a Piezoelectric Plate

John M. Thompson, PhD Consulting Engineer

Abstract Piezoelectric materials are substances that have strong coupling between structural displacements and electrical loads. The application of an electrical load will cause the structure to deform in a manner similar to a mechanical load. If the electrical load is applied rapidly, the structure will respond rapidly and will begin vibrating. If these vibrations are undesirable, they may be eliminated by damping, including electrical damping from a properly designed electrical circuit. This paper present the analysis of a piezoelectric beam subjected to a stepped electrical voltage. The ANSYS piezoelectric circuit elements are used to evaluate the electrical circuit that includes the piezoelectric beam.

Introduction
Piezoelectric materials are materials the exhibit a strong coupling between the mechanical degrees of freedom and the electrical degrees of freedom. When a voltage potential is applied across a piezoelectric material, the material will deform in a manner consistent with its electrical properties. And like mechanical loadings, if the voltage is applied slowly, the deformations will occur slowly and the structure will attain its final position quasi-statically. However, if the voltage is applied suddenly, the structure will respond in a dynamic manner and will begin to vibrate about its equilibrium position. The time required for the transient vibrations to dissipate will depend upon the damping characters of the material and upon any external dampers that may be present in the structure. Several options are available to reduce or eliminate the unwanted vibrations through damping. One option would be to add a material with a high damping coefficient to the structure. The damping material could be sandwiched between layers of the piezoelectric material or could be bonded to the surface. In either case, the increased damping would cause the vibrations to be eliminated in a shorter time that the natural piezoelectric structure. A second option would be to use an electrical circuit to modify the applied voltage, thereby effectively damping the response of the piezoelectric structure. It is this second approach that is presented in this paper.

Analysis
To investigate the effect of a damping circuit on a piezoelectric structure, a finite element model of that structure was created The model consists of a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam using PLANE13 and an electrical circuit using components using CIRC94. The piezoelectric bimorph model is taken from Section 6.12 of the Coupled-Field Guide and the piezoelectric material properties from that example are used here. The length of the beam was reduced from 100 mm to 50 mm to increase its natural frequency; the thickness of the beam and the material properties remained the same. The beam is constructed as a bimorph with the elements along the top polarized in the negative Y direction while the elements along the bottom of the beam are polarized in the positive Y direction. Figure 1 shows the finite element model of the piezoelectric bimorph. Figure 2 shows the details of the model including the element coordinate systems, the boundary conditions at the fixed end of the beam and the coupling along the top and bottom of the beam. The voltage applied across the beam is 100 volts.

Figure 1. Finite element model of a piezoelectric bimorph

Figure 2. Details at the fixed end of the beam (Figure2.jpg)

Static Analysis
The first analysis with the piezoelectric bimorph beam was performed as a static analysis to verify the model and to determine the deflection of the beam due to the applied 100 volt load. The results of the analysis are shown in Figure 3. The deflection of the tip of the beam is .822E-5 mm and this is the expected equilibrium deflection of the beam once the transient behavior of the beam has damped out.

Figure 3. Static deflection of a piezoelectric bimorph

Modal Analysis
The second analysis with the piezoelectric bimorph beam was performed as a modal analysis to determine the natural frequencies of the beam. The natural frequencies are need to estimate the required time constant for the electrical circuit to be added to the simulation and to estimate the amount of natural damping that might be present in the beam. The bottom electrode of the beam was grounded to 0 volts; the top electrode was allowed to be free. The results of the analysis showed that the fundamental frequency is 33.5 Hz and corresponds to flexural bending of the beam, as shown in Figure 3. Frequencies for higher modes were 209.7, 586.1 and 1145. Using the 33.5 Hz natural frequency and an assume natural damping of 1%, the stiffness damping factor for the transient analyses to follow would be Beta = .01 / Pi / 33.5 = 9.5E-5 This value of natural damping will be used for all of transient analyses that follow.

Transient Analysis without Electrical Circuit

The third analysis with the piezoelectric bimorph beam was performed as a transient analysis with natural damping only. The potential of 100 volts was applied to the electrode at the top of the beam while the bottom electrode was grounded and the beam was allowed to deform. The voltage potential was applied to the ANSYS model in two load steps of 1e-6 seconds to insure that the initial conditions of zero velocity and zero acceleration would be correct. After the two initial load steps were used to applied the potential,

subsequent load steps was used to determine the transient response of the beam to 0.5 seconds. The results of the analysis is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Transient analysis of piezoelectric bimorph w/o electrical damping The results of the analysis show that the beam deforms and oscillates about an equilibrium position of approximate .8E-5 mm as predicted by the static analysis. The analysis also shows that the beam oscillates 5 cycles in 0.15 seconds which gives a natural period of 0.03 seconds and a natural frequency of 1/0.03 = 33.3 Hz, which is consistent with the modal analysis of the beam. The results also show that at 0.5 seconds, the beam vibration amplitude is in excess of .4e-5 mm (half of the static deflection of the beam) and will continue to oscillate for some time.

Transient Analysis with an RC Circuit

If the oscillations in Figure 4 are considered excessive, then additional damping will be required. One method of applying that damping would be to limit the application of the voltage potential with a resistorcapacitor (RC) circuit as shown in Figure 5. With this type of circuit, the full voltage potential will be mitigated initially and the full will be applied when the capacitor is charged. The time required to charge the capacitor is known as the circuit time constant and is dependent upon the values of the resistor and the capacitor. The time constant for an RC circuit is given as tau = RC We can use the standard rule of thumb that 5 time constants are required to fully charge the RC circuit. Then if we pick a time for the circuit to be fully charged, we can calculate the values for the resistor and the capacitor that will give us the performance that we want. Suppose we choose 0.03 seconds for the time constant of the circuit. Then the time for the circuit to be fully changed would be 0.15 seconds.

Figure 5. Circuit components for an RC circuit As a first estimate, we can choose electrical components such that the circuit would be fully change at time = 0.03 seconds so that the loading time is the same as the natural frequency. Then the time constant for the system would be 0.03/5 = 0.006 seconds. All that remains is to choose the values for the resistor and the capacitor. If we choose a standard capacitor of 0.3 microfarads, then the resistor value would be C = 0.3 microfarads R = 0.006 / .3e-6 = 20,000 ohms. These will be the nominal values. To study the effect of the electrical circuits, additional values that are 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 times the nominal values will also be input and the output deflections of the beam will be compared. The results of this analysis where the capacitor is held constant at .3 microfarads and the resistor is permitted to vary are shown in Figure 6. The results show that small values of resistance have little damping effect and imply that a longer time constant may improve the response. The results also raise a concern that the voltage applied to the top electrode is not as expected and that the response of the piezoelectric beam is influencing that voltage. To verify that the applied voltage is ramping monotonically and not oscillating with the beam, the voltage response at the top electrode was plotted in Figure 7. This plot of the voltage is as expected and implies that the RC circuit is correctly mitigating the step applied voltage. The results of the transient analysis with a 0.006 second time constant also imply that a longer time constant will be required for this beam.

Figure 6. Beam response with a nominal time constant of 0.03

Figure 7. Voltage applied to the top electrode of beam

To study the effect of the longer time constant, a value of 0.03 seconds was chosen such that the charging time for the beam will be 0.15 seconds. The nominal value for the capacitor was chosen to be 0.3 microfarads and the resistor was varied from the nominal value of 100,000 ohms. The results are shown in Figure 8. Results for a resistor of 100,000 ohms and a varying the capacitance with a nominal capacitor of .3e-6 are shown in Figure 9.

Figure 8. Beam response for RC circuit, variable resistance, c = 3e-7

Figure 9. Beam response for RC circuit, variable capacitance, R = 100000

Transient Analysis with an RL Circuit

In a similar manner, electrical damping can be achieved using an RL circuit. For an RL circuit, the time constant is given by tau = L/R. Again, the process is to choose either the resistor or the inductor and then calculate the other component based upon the assumed time constant. The electrical circuit is shown in Figure 10. The results for the RL circuit are shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12. In both cases, one of the electrical components is held constant at its nominal value and the other is allowed to vary with values of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 times the nominal value. The nominal value for the inductor is 1.5 Henrys and the nominal value for the resistor is 50 ohms.

Figure 10. Electric components for an RL circuit

Figure 11. Beam response for RL circuit, variable resistance, H = 1.5

Figure 12. Beam response for RL circuit, variable inductance, R = 10

Transient Analysis with an RLC circuit

And, the two effects can be combined into a single electrical circuit similar to that shown in Figure 13. For this example, the values for the electrical components was R = 10,000 ohm C = 10 microfarads I = 2.5 Henry The displacement of the end of the beam is shown in Figure 14. For this case, the values of the electrical components was not varied and only the nominal values were used.

Figure 13. Electric components for the RLC circuit

Figure 14. Beam response for an RLC circuit

Conclusion
The results of the analysis show that the vibrations of a piezoelectric beam subjected to a step voltage can be reduced significantly if the applied voltage is mitigated by other electrical components in a circuit. The results also show that to eliminate vibration in a piezoelectric beam subjected to a step voltage requires circuit time constants that are longer than the natural frequency of the beam. The reason for this is believed to be the strong interaction coupling between the displacement and voltage degrees of freedom for piezoelectric crystals. It can be demonstrated that the output voltage of the electrical circuit has the desired value based upon the stepped input voltage and the values for the electrical components. But the piezoelectric beam is not a passive device like an electrical motor and the response of the piezoelectric beam in the electrical circuit will have an effect.

Appendix A Input listing /batch,list /filnam,beam3daa /title, Transient Analysis of a Piezoelectric Bimorph Beam !!!! RC circuit, vary the resistance !!!! nominal time constant = .15 !!!! nominal capacitance = .3e-6 cap=.3e-6 *dim,rc,array,5 rc(1)= 10000,50000,100000,200000,1000000 *dim,rest,array,600,5 *do,ii,1,5 parsav,all,beam3daa,par /clear parres,change,beam3daa,par /com, /PREP7 ! ! Define problem parameters ! ! - Geometry ! L=50e-3 ! Length, m H=0.5e-3 ! One-layer thickness, m ! ! - Loading ! V=100 ! Electrode voltage, Volt Uy=10.e-3 ! Tip displacement, m ! ! - Material properties for PVDF ! E1=2.0e9 ! Young's modulus, N/m^2 NU12=0.29 ! Poisson's ratio G12=0.775e9 ! Shear modulus, N/m^2 d31=2.2e-11 ! Piezoelectric strain coefficients, C/N d32=0.3e-11 d33=-3.0e-11 ept33=12 ! Relative permittivity at constant stress ! dmping=.01 pi=acos(-1) freq=1/.03 ! estimated natural freq bett=dmping/pi/freq ! ! Finite element model of the piezoelectric bimorph beam ! local,11 ! Coord. system for lower layer: polar axis +Y local,12,,,,,180 ! Coord. system for upper layer: polar axis -Y

csys,11 !!!!rect,0,L,-H,0 !!!!rect,0,L, 0,H !!!!aglue,all !!!!esize,H ! !!!!et,1,PLANE223,1001,,0 stress

! Activate coord. ! Create area ! Create area ! Glue layers ! Specify the

system 11 for lower layer for upper layer element length

! 2-D piezoelectric element, plane ! Elastic compliance matrix

!!!!tb,ANEL,1,,,1 !!!!tbda,1,1/E1,-NU12/E1,-NU12/E1 !!!!tbda,7,1/E1,-NU12/E1 !!!!tbda,12,1/E1 !!!!tbda,16,1/G12 !!!!tb,PIEZ,1,,,1 !!!!tbda,2,d31 !!!!tbda,5,d33 !!!!tbda,8,d32 !!!!tb,DPER,1,,,1 !!!!tbdata,1,ept33,ept33 !!!!tblist,all matrices

! Piezoelectric strain matrix

! Permittivity at constant stress ! List input and converted material

! -----------------------------------------------------------------------! Alternative element type and material input ! et,1,PLANE13,7,,2 ! 2-D piezoelectric element, plane stress et,11,circu94,0 ! resistor et,12,circu94,2 ! capacitor et,13,circu94,4 ! voltage source et,14,circu94,1 ! inductor r,11,RC(ii) r,12,cap r,13,v r,14,20 r,15,.1 !!!100000

! mp,EX,1,E1 ! Elastic properties mp,NUXY,1,NU12 mp,GXY,1,G12 ! tb,PIEZ,1 ! Piezoelectric stress matrix tbda,2,0.2876e-1 tbda,5,-0.5186e-1 tbda,8,-0.7014e-3 ! mp,PERX,1,11.75 ! Permittivity at constant strain ! -----------------------------------------------------------------------mp,dens,1,7500

!!!!type,1 $ esys,11 !!!!amesh,1 layer !!!!type,1 $ esys,12 !!!!amesh,3 layer ! n,1,,-H n,51,L,-H fill ngen,3,100,1,51,1,,H type,1 esys,11 e,1,2,102,101 esys,12 e,102,101,201,202 egen,50,1,-2

! Generate mesh within the lower ! Generate mesh within the upper

nsel,s,loc,x,L *get,ntip,node,0,num,min ! Get ! !!!!nelec = 10 ! surface !!!!*dim,ntop,array,nelec !!!!l1 = 0 ! !!!!l2 = L/nelec !!!!*do,i,1,nelec ! !!!! nsel,s,loc,y,H !!!! nsel,r,loc,x,l1,l2 !!!! cp,i,volt,all !!!! *get,ntop(i),node,0,num,min electrode !!!! l1 = l2 + H/10 !!!! l2 = l2 + L/nelec !!!!*enddo nsel,s,loc,y,-H cp,1,volt,all *get,nbot,node,0,num,min !!!!d,nbot,volt,0 nsel,s,loc,y,H cp,2,volt,all *get,ntop,node,0,num,min n,901,-H,-H n,902,-H,+H n,903,-H/2,-H*2 n,904,-h*2,H type,13 real,13 !!!!e,901,nbot,903 type,11 real,11 e,904,902

master node at beam tip Number of electrodes on top Initialize electrode locations Define electrodes on top surface

! Get master node on top ! Update electrode location

! Define bottom electrode ! Ground bottom electrode

! voltage source ! resistor

type,12 real,12 e,902,901 type,11 real,15 e,902,201 type,11 real,15 e,901,1 nsel,s,loc,x,0 d,all,ux,0,,,,uy nsel,all fini /SOLU antype,trans tintp,,0.25,0.5,0.5 betad,bett !!!!d,ntop,volt,V d,901,volt,0 d,904,volt,v alls !!!!*do,i,1,nelec !!!! d,ntop(i),volt,V electrodes !!!!*enddo outres,all,all time,1e-6 autots,off nsub,1,1,1 solve time,2e-6 solve time,0.5 nsub,500,500,500 solve fini /POST26 nsol,2,node(L,0,0),uy plvar,2 vget,rest(1,ii),2 ! Save path in a file fini *enddo save,beam3daa,db /post26 nsol,2,node(L,0,0),uy

! capacitor ! resistor as jumper

! Clamp left end of bimorph

! Actuator simulation

! Apply voltages to top

plvar,2 vput,rest(1,1),5 vput,rest(1,2),6 vput,rest(1,3),7 vput,rest(1,4),8 vput,rest(1,5),9 varnam,5, R=%RC(1)% varnam,6, R=%RC(2)% varnam,7, R=%RC(3)% varnam,8, R=%RC(4)% varnam,9, R=%RC(5)% xvar,1 /title, Figure 8 - Beam response for RC circuit, variable resistance, C = %cap% plvar,5,6,7,8,9