LAUSR

Abstract Shear piezoceramics have attracted increasing attentions owing to their excellent actuating performance. Shear piezoelectric fiber composites combined the advantages of high piezoelectric properties and good flexibility, which expanded the application as actuators. In this paper, the effect of piezoceramic/epoxy composite layer thickness and driving conditions to the shear piezoelectric fiber composite was studied. The results showed that the composite layer thickness obviously affected the performance of the composite. When the driving electric field reached 1.2 kV/mm, the working mode of the composite began to change, and both shear and longitudinal modes appeared in the composite at the same time. Furthermore, the tip displacement of the cantilever beam driven by shear piezoelectric fiber composite was 75% higher than that of the longitudinal mode. The results confirmed the advantages of shear piezoelectric fiber composite as actuator in cantilever beam structures and the potential in the areas of deformation control and vibration control.