Manufactured Configurations of Piezoceramic Disk-Style Actuators

The thermally-induced deformations of disk-style actuators that are manufactured flat at an elevated temperature to cure the adhesives and are then cooled to room temperature for use are studied. These particular actuators are designed to deform out of plane as they are cooled. Though the intended deformed shape is dome-like, they sometimes cool to a near-cylindrical configuration. This issue is studied by developing an analysis and then using it to explore the influence of geometry, material properties, and fabrication temperature on whether the cooled configuration is dome-like or near-cylindrical. The analysis is based on using the total potential energy in combination with the Rayleigh-Ritz approach. Geometric nonlinearities are included, and as a result, stability of the cooled configurations is studied.