Statistical Piezotronic Effect in Nanocrystal Bulk by Anisotropic Geometry Control

Utilizing inner-crystal piezoelectric polarization charges to control carrier transport across a metal-semiconductor or semiconductor–semiconductor interface, piezotronic effect has great potential applications in smart micro/nano-electromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS), human-machine interfacing, and nanorobotics. However, current research on piezotronics has mainly focused on systems with only one or rather limited interfaces. Here, the statistical piezotronic effect is reported in ZnO bulk composited of nanoplatelets, of which the strain/stress-induced piezo-potential at the crystals’ interfaces can effectively gate the electrical transport of ZnO bulk. It is a statistical phenomenon of piezotronic modification of large numbers of interfaces, and the crystal orientation of inner ZnO nanoplatelets strongly influence the transport property of ZnO bulk. With optimum preferred orientation of ZnO nanoplatelets, the bulk exhibits an increased conductivity with decreasing stress at a high pressure range of 200–400 MPa, which has not been observed previously in bulk. A maximum sensitivity of 1.149 µS m⁻¹ MPa⁻¹ and a corresponding gauge factor of 467–589 have been achieved. As a statistical phenomenon of many piezotronic interfaces modulation, the proposed statistical piezotronic effect extends the connotation of piezotronics and promotes its practical applications in intelligent sensing.     

Dielectric,ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of lead-free Ba0.95Ca0.05Ti1-xZrxO3 ceramics

Abstract

Ba_0.95Ca_0.05Ti_1-xZr_xO₃ (BCTZO) ceramics were prepared by a solid state reaction method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). The ceramics exhibit a pure perovskite structure. The average grain size gradually decreases with increasing Zr concentration. XANES results indicate that the intensities of pre-edge peaks dropped with increasing Zr concentration. The BCTZO ceramic of x?=?0.05 has the optimum electrical properties with the maximum dielectric constant (ε'_m), remanent polarization (2P_r), coercive electric field (2E_c) and piezoelectric charge constant (d₃₃) of 7,244, 12.54 (μC/cm²), 5.29 (kV/cm) and 288 (pC/N), respectively.     

Simulation studies on a rotating ring disk electrode: Effects of ionic migration with kinetic complication-disk results

In continuation to my previous work (Guha S. AIChE J. 2013;59(4):1390-1399), in this work, effects of ionic migration are evaluated for disk region of a rotating ring disk electrode system by numerically solving complex differential equations, developed for mass transfer along with kinetic complication in presence of ionic migration under limiting current condition. The system for simulation is 0.01 M Fe₂(SO₄)₃ solution with H₂SO₄ as supporting electrolyte. Simulation cases are presence and absence of ionic migration with kinetic complication (oxidation of Fe²⁺ to Fe³⁺ under O₂ pressure). Results show that concentration boundary layer thickness of reactant Fe³⁺ reduces appreciably and steady-state disk current reduces substantially in presence of migration. Simulated steady-state disk current in absence of migration case agrees well with published data. Results indicate higher Fe²⁺ concentration in presence of migration and thereby higher rate of oxidation of Fe²⁺ to Fe³⁺ at all rate constant values.     

混凝土结构的压电声波检测分析

本文介绍了混凝土结构的压电体波和表面波检测的主要进展,对两种压电声波检测的优缺点进行了总结。体波检测设备一般埋入混凝土内部,需要选择合理的检测部位,检测结果较为精确;声表面波检测无需选择特定的部位,但是检测深度有限。在实际检测工作过程中,可以联合两种方法相互验证。     

Constructing developable surfaces by wrapping cones and cylinders

We model developable surfaces by wrapping a planar figure around cones and cylinders. Complicated developables can be constructed by successive mappings using cones and cylinders of different sizes and shapes. We also propose an intuitive control mechanism, which allows a user to select an arbitrary point on the planar figure and move it to a new position. Numerical techniques are then used to find a cone or cylinder that produces the required mapping. Several examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique.     

Thermal Bending Analysis of Doubly Curved Composite Laminated Shell Panels with General Boundary Conditions and Laminations

Thermal bending analysis of doubly curved laminated shell panels with general boundary conditions and laminations is presented. The equations of equilibrium are derived in the form of two coupled sets of ordinary differential equations based on a general shell theory and solved through the state-space approach in a repeated manner. It is depicted that the results of the present method are in great agreement with analytical solutions. Cylindrical shell panels with general boundary conditions and laminations, where no analytical solution is available, are solved. It is found that the present method exhibits a high convergence rate as well as presenting accurate results in all cases.     

Electrical and mechanical properties of BZT − xBCT lead-free piezoceramics

In this study, lead-free (1 − x)Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃ − x(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃ compositions are synthesized via conventional solid oxide route, and the ceramics are fabricated with normal sintering in air. The effects of composition fluctuations on dielectric, piezoelectric, and mechanical properties are investigated. The phase structure and the microstructure are analyzed with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The best dielectric and piezoelectric properties of ε_r = 11 207 and d₃₃ = 330 pC/N were obtained for BZT−0.35BCT and BZT−0.5BCT ceramics, respectively. The mechanical behavior—in terms of Vickers hardness and compressive and flexural strengths—was investigated, and the best mechanical behavior was found in the vicinity of the phase transition boundary with x values between 0.5 and 0.6.     

Experimental research on dynamic response of PZT-5H under impact load

In order to improve the stability of PZT-based sensors, the mechanical, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of PZT-5H under impact load were studied experimentally by using the separated Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) with an electrical output measurement device. At the same time, the experimental study on the material properties of PZT-5H before and after the impact was carried out. The effect of impact cracks on the output voltage of PZT-5H was also analyzed. The results show that the dynamic piezoelectric constants of PZT-5H under low stress impact (10–50 MPa) are different from those under quasi-static state, and the empirical relationship between them and the peak stress is obtained through experiments. The dielectric properties of PZT-5H did not change under low stress impact, but micro-cracks occurred in the material and dielectric loss increased at high frequencies. Under short circuit, the residual polarization intensity of PZT-5H decreases sharply due to impact load. While the impact load causes the secondary polarization and the increase of the residual polarization intensity of PZT under open circuit. When the stress is over 45 MPa, the PZT-5H breaks. The formation of cracks causes abnormal discharge voltage and gap discharge.     

Bulging in incremental sheet forming of cold bonded multi-layered Cu clad sheet: Influence of forming conditions and bending

Bulge is a defect that causes geometrical inaccuracy and premature failure in the innovative incremental sheet forming (ISF) process. This study has two-fold objectives: (1) knowing the bulging behavior of a Cu clad tri-layered steel sheet as a function of forming conditions, and (2) analyzing the bending effect on bulging in an attempt to identify the associated mechanism. A series of ISF tests and bending analysis are performed to realize these objectives. From the cause-effect analysis, it is found that bulge formation in the layered sheet is sensitive to forming conditions in a way that bulging can be minimized utilizing annealed material and performing ISF with larger tool diameter and step size. The bending under tension analysis reveals that the formation of bulge is an outgrowth of bending moment that the forming tool applies on the sheet during ISF. Furthermore, the magnitude of bending moment depending upon the forming conditions varies from 0.046 to 10.24 N·m/m and causes a corresponding change in the mean bulge height from 0.07 to 0.91 mm. The bending moment governs bulging in layered sheet through a linear law. These findings lead to a conclusion that the bulge defect can be overcome by controlling the bending moment and the formula proposed can be helpful in this regards.     

Enhanced piezoelectric strain of BiFeO3–Ba(Zr0.02Ti0.98)O3 lead-free ceramics near the phase boundary

The xBiFeO₃-(1-x)Ba(Zr_0.02Ti_0.98)O₃ + 1.0 mol% MnO₂ (xBF-BZT) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method. The structure, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that xBF-BZT ceramics exhibited pure perovskite structure with the coexistence of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases (0.66 ≤ x ≤ 0.74). The Curie temperature T_c, the dielectric constant ε_r (1 kHz), dielectric loss tanδ (1 kHz), piezoelectric constant d₃₃, coercive field E_c (80 kV/cm), and remnant polarization P_r (80 kV/cm) of 0.7BF-0.3BZT-Mn ceramics were 491°C, 633, 0.044, 165 pC/N, 35.6 kV/cm, and 22.6 μC/cm², respectively. The unipolar strain of 0.7BF-0.3BZT reached up to 0.20% under the electric field of 60 kV/cm, which is larger than that (0.15%) of BiFeO₃–BaTiO₃ ceramics. These results indicated that the xBF-BZT ceramics were promising candidates for high-temperature piezoelectric materials.