Characterization of Piezo Electric Wafer Active Sensors After Exposure to High Temperature

Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) at high temperature with reliable operation are desired for structural health monitoring. The PWAS may be generalized as an electro-mechanical system because of the incorporation of electro-mechanical coupling. The basic principle of SHM method by PWAS is to monitor variation in the electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance/ admittance signature. The operational temperature range of PWAS can be limited by the sensing capability of the piezoelectric material at elevated temperatures. Therefore stability of PWAS at high-temperature environments is of great interest for SHM. In such cases SHM can be done at room temperature or at relatively lower temperature. However, during service permanently bonded PWAS can be exposed to very high temperature. The traditional PWAS use piezoelectric materials Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) that have been attracted by researchers due to its enhanced sensing, actuation or both capabilities. This paper discusses properties relevant to sensor applications, including piezoelectric materials that are commercially available. For temperature dependence study PWAS were exposed to 50°C to 250°C with 50°C interval at around 2°C/min heating rate. E/M impedance/ admittance and different material properties such as, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, mechanical quality factor, P-E hysteresis loop, in plane piezoelectric constant were determined experimentally at room temperature after exposure to high temperature. The variation in E/M impedance and admittance signature and different material properties were obtained at each temperature. The piezoelectric material degradation was also investigated by microstructural and crystallographic study.