Comparison of the electromechanical properties of embedded and surface-mounted piezoelectric transducers

An experimental and computational comparison of the structural and electromechanical coupling properties of composite beams with surface-mounted and embedded piezoelectric disks shows that the embedded sensors tend to have higher electromechanical coupling coefficients due to improved strain transfer between the transducer and host material. Experimental testing of fiber–epoxy composite beams with embedded and surface-mounted piezoelectric disks under quasi-static three-point bending tests shows that bending elastic moduli and ultimate stresses are not significantly different between these two cases, while ultimate strains are greater for the surface-mounted cases compared with the embedded cases. Electromechanical coupling decreases with increasing bending loads due to either debonding between the sensor and host structure or due to damage of the brittle piezoelectric material. Embedded sensors tend to show a smaller degradation in electromechanical coupling with increasing stress level.