Piezoelectric effect | Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters | Electro-elastic coupling | cv47.org

Jul 6, 20201 min read

Updated: Jul 19, 2020

The phenomenon in which mechanical deformation is coupled with electric phenomenon.There are specific kinds of materials which exhibit this kind of a behaviour in which mechanical deformation is coupled to electric phenomena. This phenomenon is called the piezoelectric effect and the materials which display this behaviour are referred to as piezoelectric materials.

The #piezoelectriceffect was discovered in the 19th century by the Curie brothers. Their

experiments suggested that piezoelectric materials generate a potential difference when subject to deformation.

This behaviour is referred to as the direct piezoelectric effect and It follows that the opposite potential difference is generated when the opposite mechanical deformation is imposed, i.e., the potential difference generated in tension is opposite to the potential difference generated in compression.

Further, these materials also exhibit the inverse piezoelectric effect in which mechanical deformation of the material takes place depending on the potential difference applied.

Over the past several decades the direct and inverse piezoelectric effects have been used in applications like sonar, ultrasound and consumer electronics,including smartphones.

Objective of the project -

The objective of the project will be to model the direct Piezoelectric effect, i.e., to model the

generation of a potential when a Piezoelectric material is deformed.