Vibration mode dependence of the high-power piezoelectric properties of hard Pb(Zr,Ti)O3

An experimental setup is presented for the determination of the quality factor of a piezoelectric element in dependence on its vibration velocity. The measurement procedure is based on the pulse drive method with burst excitation. The sample is driven by an AC voltage at its resonance frequency and short-circuited to terminate the stimulus when a high vibration velocity has been induce. Subsequent analysis of the transient response enables the determination of the quality factor as a function of the vibration velocity. The setup was used to investigate the relation between the quality factor stability at high vibration velocity and the utilized vibration mode. The results are compared to measurements of the heat generation in the samples during a continuous drive. Measurements of a hard-type PZT piezoceramic revealed significant differences between the modes, including a higher quality factor stability for the longitudinal coupling mode and smaller quality factor values accompanied with stronger heat generation for the 2D radial vibration mode. The measurements demonstrated the need to consider vibration modes for accurate determination of material's high-power suitability.