Processing of novel electroceramic components by SFF techniques

Novel piezoelectric ceramic and ceramic/polymer composite structures were fabricated by solid freeform fabrication (SFF) for sensor and actuator applications. SFF techniques including fused deposition of ceramics (FDC) and Sanders prototyping (SP) were utilized to fabricate a variety of complex structures directly from a computer aided design (CAD) file. Novel composite structures including volume fraction gradients (VFG) and staggered rods, as well as actuator designs such as tubes, spirals and telescopes were made using the flexibility provided by the above processes. VFG composites were made by SP technique with the ceramic content decreasing from the center towards the edges. This resulted in a reduction of side lobe intensity in the acoustic beam pattern. The FDC technique was used to manufacture high authority actuators utilizing novel designs for the amplification of strain under applied electric field. The design, fabrication and electromechanical properties of these composite and actuator structures are discussed in this paper.