An investigation on 1–3 cement based piezoelectric composites

1-3 cement based piezoelectric composites which had good compatibility with civil engineering structural materials were fabricated by the cut-fill technique. The piezoelectric, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of the composites were studied. The acoustic impedance of the composites was also investigated. The results show that the piezoelectric strain constant d ₃₃ and the dielectric constant ε of the composites increase linearly with the increase of PMN volume fraction, while the piezoelectric voltage constant g₃₃ presents the opposite trend. The g₃₃ values of the composites are much higher than those of pure PMN. The remnant polarization P_r and the coercive field E_c of the composite with 27.26% volume fraction of PMN are 4.12νCcm^-2 and 4.01kVmm^-1, respectively. By enhancing the PMN volume fraction, the acoustic impedance of the composites can be tailored to match that of the civil engineering structural material, i.e. concrete. Therefore, this new kind of composite has potential to be used in civil structure health monitoring.