Electromechanical coupling coefficient and acoustic impedance of 1-1-3 piezoelectric composites

Abstract 1-1-3 piezoelectric composites consisting of a PZT-5H ceramic, an epoxy resin matrix and a silicone rubber filler were prepared using a modified 'slice and fill' method. The effect of the ceramic volume percentage on the properties of the composite was analyzed both through experiments and simulations. By adopting the 1-1-3 structure, the electromechanical coupling coefficient of the piezoelectric composites could be increased to 0.69, and the acoustic impedance reduced to 6.81. The experimental results further showed that the variation of the ceramic volume percentage had no effect on the electromechanical coupling coefficient of the composites, but only affected the acoustic impedance. The presented piezoelectric composites can be used to design high-performance transducer.