Evaluation of a Novel Piezoelectric Bridge
Transducer
G. Yesner and A. Safari
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Rutgers University
Piscataway, New Jersey
Abstract – A novel piezoelectric bridge transducer was
developed for an energy harvesting application from vehicle
induced loading on pavement. A unique electrode design enables
the PZT to be poled horizontally, enabling the d33 piezoelectric
coefficient to be utilized by the transducer, enhancing energy
output. The transducers were fabricated and assembled in an
energy harvesting module and the output energy and power was
measured under simulated vehicle loading. In this work, the
effective piezoelectric coefficient of the transducer has been
measured using the direct piezoelectric effect as well as the
converse piezoelectric effect to evaluate the transducer for an
actuator or sensor application. The effective d33 measured by the
direct method is 19,000 pC/N and the g33 is 2150 x 10-3 Vm/N. The
reliability and cycles to failure of the transducer design is studied
and the transducers are evaluated after 50,000 loading cycles.
Inconsistency in the epoxy layer thickness has been identified as
the cause of premature failure.
Keywords— Piezoelectric energy harvesting; cymbal
transducer; surface poling; direct piezoelectric effect
I. INTRODUCTION
The cymbal flextensional transducer uses conical shaped
metal end caps bonded to the top and bottom of a
piezoceramics disc [1]. The bridge transducer is the square or
rectangular version of the cymbal and gets its name from the
shape of the end caps. The cymbal and bridge transducers have
enhanced piezoelectric properties due to the amplification of
stresses by the metal end cap [2]. When loaded, the force
applied to the metal end cap is transferred into the ceramic as a
tensile and compressive stress [3].
A novel electrode design enables the bridge transducer to
utilize the larger d33 piezoelectric coefficient [4]. By poling the
ceramic in the horizontal direction it becomes parallel to the
tensile stress exerted on the ceramic by the end caps. The novel
bridge transducer is shown in Fig. 1. 64 transducers connected
in parallel were assembled into a generator and loaded to
simulate the impact of a vehicle driving over the pavement
embedded generator. A single loading and unloading cycle of
600 lb produced 0.7 mJ of energy [4]. Under cyclical loading
of 500 lb at a frequency of 5 Hz, the output power was 2.6 mW
at a resistive load of 300 kΩ [4].
The piezoelectric coefficient can be measured using the
direct or converse piezoelectric effect. The direct effect is
measured in a Berlincourt tester; force is applied to an
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A. Jasim, H. Wang, B. Basily, and A. Maher
Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
Rutgers University
Piscataway, New Jersey
unknown piezoelectric ceramic and the generated charge is
measured [5]. The charge generated on a reference
piezoelectric cylinder inside of the tester is used for calculating
the d33.
The converse piezoelectric effect is measured from the
strain resulting from an applied electric field. A laser
interferometer or fiber optic sensor is used to measure the
displacement of the sample [6]. The effective piezoelectric
coefficient may not be consistent for composite transducers
when measured using the direct and converse effects. A. Dogan
observed that moonie transducers with Lucite end caps had
lower d33 when measured by the direct piezoelectric effect [7].
The low stiffness of the Lucite prevented the applied stress
from transferring to the PZT. On the other hand, PZT can
easily drive the compliant Lucite end caps and shows a greater
piezoelectric coefficient when measured using the converse
effect [7].
In this work, the novel bridge transducer is evaluated for its
reliability in an energy harvesting application. The major cause
of failure is identified and modeled. The effective piezoelectric
coefficient is measured using direct and converse methods.
II. EXPERIMENTAL
The novel bridge transducers are fabricated using PZT-5X
(Sinocera, State College, PA) square plates with dimensions
32x32 mm and thickness of 2 mm. A detailed description of
the fabrication process has been explained previously [4].
Surface electrodes are applied to the ceramic plates using
DuPont 7095 fired on silver paste. The electrodes divide the
ceramic into 7 segments with an inter-electrode spacing of 3.7
mm and an electrode width of about 1 mm. The electroded
ceramics are poled at 80ºC in silicon oil while held in a Teflon
Figure 1. Novel bridge transducer.

Figure 2. Modified Berlincourt method used for measuring effective d33
of the bridge transducer. The transducer is placed on top of a reference
sample and voltage is measured during loading.
fixture. Wires are pressed against the surface electrodes to
connect them in parallel and 8 kV is applied. After poling,
insulating epoxy is applied to the sides of the ceramic. Then
conductive epoxy is applied on top of the insulating layer to
connect the electrodes in parallel.
The steel end caps are stamped from 0.025” (0.6 mm) thick
4130 alloy steel sheets and then heat-treated to increase
hardness. End caps are attached to the ceramics using Henkel
Loctite Ablestic 45LV epoxy. The finished transducers are
assembled into an aluminum casing that hold 64 transducers in
4 layers connected in parallel.
Simulated vehicle loading using a pneumatic system
applied up to 700 lb to the transducer module. After
approximately 50,000 loading cycles, with load ranging from
500 to 700 lb, the transducer module was disassembled and the
individual transducers were studied. Broken transducers were
removed and mounted in epoxy for polishing and analysis. The
thickness of the epoxy layer was measured by microscopy.
The effective piezoelectric coefficient was measured by the
converse piezoelectric effect using Radiant Technologies
Precision LC, high voltage interface (HVI), high voltage test
fixture (HVTF), and an MTI-2000 Photonic senor. The
effective d33 using the direct piezoelectric effect was too large
for measurement using a standard Berlincourt meter. A
modified Berlincourt method, shown schematically in Fig. 2,
was used instead. The piezoelectric coefficient is calculated
using the equation:
V0 A V
d33 = g33 × ε 0εr = × ε 0εr = 0 ⋅ C
t F F
where Vo is the open circuit voltage, A is area, F is force, t is
thickness, and C is capacitance. Force is difficult to accurately
measure directly. In this method, the sample is placed on top of
the reference sample, loading the unknown sample and the
reference with the same force, dropping it from the equation.
The resulting equation is used to calculate the piezoelectric
coefficient by the direct method:
C V
d33 = ⋅ d33,ref
Cref Vref
The piezoelectric coefficient can be measured by the direct
piezoelectric effect using the capacitance and voltage generated
of the unknown sample and the reference.
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III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The effective piezoelectric coefficient of the transducer was
19,000 pC/N and the effective piezoelectric voltage constant
was 2150 x 10-3 Vm/N measured using the direct piezoelectric
effect. The wide inter-electrode spacing decreases capacitance,
and combined with the high d33, the resulting g33 coefficient is
extremely large. Higher d33 would be expected for the same
transducer with thinner steel or bronze end caps [8]. Bronze is
more compliant than steel and the end cap would flex under
loading, creating additional stress.
The effective piezoelectric coefficient was considerably
lower when measured using the converse effect. The electric
field induced displacement for the novel bridge transducer and
the PZT5X ceramic is shown in Fig. 3. The effective
piezoelectric strain coefficient is 7500pm/V for the transducer.
The strain coefficient of the PZT5X ceramic is 1150pm/V,
considerable higher than d33 of 700pC/N. The effective
piezoelectric coefficient of the transducer is expected to be
lower when measured using the converse effect.
After 50,000 loading cycles, the output energy and power
of the piezoelectric generator decreased. Analysis of the
individual transducers revealed that 12 were no longer
functioning. These transducers failed from a combination of
de-bonding of the ceramic from the epoxy and fracture of the
ceramic. None of the failed transducers caused short-circuiting,
which would have completely eliminated the electrical output
of the piezoelectric generator.
Of the 12 failed transducers, 8 had the same characteristics,
shown schematically in Fig. 4: the epoxy bond between the end
cap and the ceramic had separated and the ceramic was
fractured on the opposite side. The typical epoxy bonding layer
thickness was measured to be 90-120 microns. However, the
epoxy thickness where separation of the end cap occurred was
about 30 microns. When the transducer was simulated with one
of the bonding layers having a thickness of 30 microns, failure
occurred after 18,000 cycles at 800 lb loading. Further analysis
by simulation identified the inter-electrode area where fracture
of the ceramic occurred as being susceptible to fatigue, shown
in Fig. 5. After separation of the end cap from the ceramic,
(1)
(2)
Figure 3. Electric field induced displacement for the novel bridge
transducer and PZT5X ceramic.
 Figure 4. Failure of the transducer was caused by insufficient thickness of
the epoxy layer. The ceramic would break shortly after de-bonding from
the end cap.
increased stress in the led to failure at this region. The
simulated lifetime of the transducer where all four bonding
regions have an epoxy thickness of 120 microns is 350,000
cycles.
IV. CONCLUSION
Testing of the prototype novel transducers revealed that
uniform epoxy thickness is an important factor that must be
carefully controlled during fabrication. If the epoxy layer is too
thin, it decreases the lifetime of the transducers. The transducer
shape can also be modified to increase the lifetime and will be
determined using simulation in the future.
The effective piezoelectric coefficient of the transducers
was measured using the direct and converse piezoelectric
effects and higher d33 was measured using the direct
piezoelectric effect. The high piezoelectric voltage constant is
an attractive feature of the novel bridge transducer design. The
decreased capacitance enhances voltage sensitivity and makes
the transducer suitable for sensor application. However, for
energy harvesting higher capacitance is preferred to decrease
the impedance of the electrical output.
The novel bridge transducers were designed for high
strength in order to support vehicle loading and thick steel end
caps were chosen. However, the steel end caps used in the
current design are too stiff to be displaced by the PZT ceramic,
causing the effective piezoelectric strain coefficient to be
lower. Thinner steel or bronze end caps would be preferred for
actuator application.
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Figure 5. Lifetime cycles for transducer with a 30-micron epoxy layer.
The thin epoxy layer will cause failure of the transducer.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the United States Department
of Transportation, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure
and Transportation, and the Glenn Howatt Electroceramics
Laboratory.
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