Ceramics International 43 (2017) 3259–3266

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Ceramics International
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Modelling of multilayer actuator layers by homogenisation technique using MARK

Digimat software
⁎
Tomasz Trzepiecińskia, , Grażyna Ryzińskaa, Mojtaba Biglara, Magdalena Gromadab
a
Rzeszow University of Technology, Department of Materials Forming and Processing, Al. Powstancow Warszawy 8, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
b
Institute of Power Engineering, Ceramic Department CEREL, ul. Techniczna 1, 36-040 Boguchwała, Poland

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: This paper is concerned with the microstructure of adhesive joints composed of BaTiO3 ceramic material and
Barium titanate two kinds of adhesives, with a special emphasis on the numerical modelling of grain size, shape and material
Ceramic porosity. BaTiO3 powder for use in stacked-disk multilayer actuator production is manufactured using the solid-
Digimat state technique. The properties of BaTiO3 material at each stage of its fabrication that influence its application
Homogenisation
for the stacked-disk multilayer actuator are presented and discussed. The parameters characterising the
Microstructure
properties of the fabricated pellets are also described. Implicit time-discretisation and consistent tangent
operators are employed. A 3D microstructure model of BaTiO3 using Digimat-FE software is generated. Then,
effective elastic constants of BaTiO3 and epoxy adhesive composites are calculated by numerical simulation. The
Mori-Tanaka homogenisation scheme for representative volume elements of BaTiO3 and epoxy adhesives
composites is carried out using Digimat-MF software in order to obtain failure characteristics of the composite
material.

1. Introduction microstructure, which are dependent on the methods of preparation

The compound barium titanate (BaTiO3) is the most intensively
studied perovskite material due to its wide use in the ceramic and
electronic industries [1–4]. Two decades ago, piezoelectric monolithic
transducers (PZT) and actuators operated at driving voltages in the
order of 102–103 V, with resultant mechanical strains of 0.1%. The
requirements of the electronic industry forced the development of
devices that reach the same strain at lower driving voltages. This was
achieved by making thin, individually electroded piezoelectric elements
that could be stacked on the top of each other to produce multilayer
actuators [5]. The principle of a multilayer actuator is that thin layers
of piezoelectric ceramic material are electrically connected in parallel
(Fig. 1). To join the ceramic layers, a bonding using many kinds of
electrically conductive adhesives is mainly used. Upon actuation the
active part of the multilayer element expands in the polarisation
direction, thus contracting in the perpendicular direction (Fig. 1).
The protective top layer and the inactive parts of the multilayer
elements themselves partly constrain this lateral compression, which
leads to shear stresses at this interface and tensile stresses in the poling
direction in the inactive region near the corners of the multilayer
element [6].
The dielectric properties of BaTiO3 are controlled by purity and
[7,8]. BaTiO3 powders are mostly manufactured at high temperatures
by solid-state reaction. The advantages of the solid-state reaction used
in mass production are its simplicity, precise stoichiometric control
and low cost, with the main disadvantage being that the high calcining
temperature results in very large and non-uniform grain sizes [9].
Controlling the phase, composition homogeneity, particle size and
monodispersity are other concerns in developing techniques for
synthesising BaTiO3. Thermoelastic properties in porous ceramics are
simply determined by a rule of mixtures or by the respective properties
of the solid phase (e.g., density, heat capacity and the coefficient of
thermal expansion) [10]. On the other hand, thermal conductivity and
elastic coefficients are strongly related to microstructure [11].
Material properties of ideal, single-phase materials can be obtained
either by measurements or from numerical modelling. However,
measurements cannot be used if the range of material properties is
to be estimated for multi-phase materials with novel microstructures
[12]. Modelling material behaviour in 3D requires accurate representa-
tions of microstructure if models electrical and/or mechanical systems
are to produce realistic property predictions [13,14]. Ondrack [15]
developed the first model concept to calculate effective thermal, elastic
or electric properties of multi-phase materials with simple structures:
ellipsoidal particles embedded in a matrix phase or two interpenetrat-

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tomtrz@prz.edu.pl (T. Trzepieciński).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2016.11.157
Received 9 October 2016; Received in revised form 20 November 2016; Accepted 22 November 2016
Available online 23 November 2016
0272-8842/ © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.
T. Trzepieciński et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic of a multilayer actuator prior to (a) and during (b) actuation showing
PZT elements and an adhesive layer; prepared on the basis of [6].
ing phases. During the 1990’s, extensive development of computational
algorithms and numerical hardware allowed for realistic simulations of
multi-phase materials. Raether and Iuga [11] developed a model that
considered various particle shapes, which allowed for an independent
variation of pore volume and particle contact area. They included in the
model geometry the neck formation, agglomeration, particle size and
particle distribution. Chawla N. and Chawla K. K. [16] studied how a
3D microstructure-based finite element model (FEM) accurately re-
presents the alignment, aspect ratio and distribution of the particles. A
comparison with single particle and multiparticle models of simple
shape (spherical and ellipsoidal) shows that the 3D microstructure-
based approach is more accurate in simulating and understanding
material behaviour. For the simulation of porous ceramics, spherical
pores are introduced randomly in a representative volume element
(RVE) [13]. An RVE is a small volume of microstructure that has the
general characteristics of the whole microstructure, such as volume
fraction, morphology and randomness of the phases and over which
modelling of specific characteristics is carried out [17]. The RVE can
properly describe the characteristics of the whole microstructure [18].
The RVE modelling is a popular technique for micromechanical
analysis of materials [18,19]. Two recommendations should be taken
into consideration during RVE modelling of the microstructure [17]:
1. an RVE should be sufficiently large to include the essential micro-
structural characteristics,
2. the RVE size should be as small as possible so that the states of stress
and strain can be approximately considered as homogeneous in the
whole RVE.
A stochastic model enclosing the probability distributions of
microscopic random variables coupled to a heat transfer model
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Ceramics International 43 (2017) 3259–3266
developed by Pennec et al. [20] were applied to a specific random
microstructure exhibiting a highly segregated bimodal distribution of
grain sizes and a small pore volume fraction. The investigations of
Fritzen and Böhlke [21] and Wipler and Böhlke [22] focused on the
mathematical perfection of algorithms to model ceramic microstruc-
tures using Voronoi structures and grain-like objects embedded into a
matrix phase.
Three-dimensional characterisation of microstructures can be
achieved by a number of different methods, including X-ray computer
tomography, serial sectioning techniques, ultramicrotomy, mechanical
polishing and focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy [13]. FIB microscope
produces 3D structures using a tomographic approach in which
successive thin slices of the material are cut and a scanning ion or
electron beam technique is used to map characteristics of the surface
revealed by the removal of each slice [13]. The images acquired can
then be combined in a stack to produce a 3D representation of the
material structure. Mechanical polishing is a very time consuming
technique. Uchic [23] automated the polishing and imaging process so
that the technique could be used to analyse very large volumes, several
hundred times greater than is achievable by FIB sectioning. X-ray
tomography has this major advantage over the other techniques, but to
achieve resolutions of less than 1 µm has limitations of depth penetra-
tion and sample size in high-density materials, such as metals [24].
Microtome sectioning is widely used for biological materials and in the
case of engineering materials the technique is limited to soft, ductile
alloys [25].
Homogenisation methods (Fig. 2) are powerful tools to simulate the
mechanical behaviour of many kinds of engineering materials, parti-
cularly of ceramics, at a very reasonable computational cost. Many
algorithms were developed over the years, which can take into account
not only the volume fraction and a shape of grains in the ceramic but
also their spatial distribution, which can provide very accurate predic-
tions. Many studies focused on the homogenisation of multi-phase
composites, yet modelling of the microstructure of ceramic materials is
not often considered or reported in the literature.
This paper is concerned with the microstructure of adhesive joints
of BaTiO3 ceramic material and two kinds of adhesives, with a special
emphasis on the numerical modelling of grain size, orientation and
porosity. BaTiO3 powder is manufactured using the solid-state techni-
que. The parameter characterising properties of the fabricated pellets
are presented and discussed. A 3D microstructure model of BaTiO3 was
generated using Digimat software. Digimat calculates the multi-physics
nonlinear behaviour of homogeneous models and digitalises micro-
structures of multi-phase materials. Mechanical properties of BaTiO3
and epoxy adhesive composites were calculated by numerical simula-
tions.
Fig. 2. Homogenisation procedure with static boundary conditions; prepared on the
basis of [26].
T. Trzepieciński et al. Ceramics International 43 (2017) 3259–3266

Table 1
Calcination plan.

Temperature (°C) Time (h) Heating/cooling rate (°C/h)

1 20–1100 11 100
2 1100–1100 8
3 1100–800 3 100
4 800–20 free cooling

2. Experimental setup

BaTiO3 perovskite powder was manufactured from 288.15 g of TiO2

(99% purity, Kronos) and 711.85 g of BaCO3 (99.5% purity, Chempur).
The set of raw materials was preliminary mixed in a polyethylene
beaker and then 1000 ml of isopropyl alcohol was added. The received
slurry was mixed and poured into a mixer mill with a working chamber
of Ø135×180 mm, where it was milled for 2 h with a rotation of
280 min−1. Zirconia balls of approximately 3 mm in diameter and
Fig. 3. XRD pattern of BaTiO3 powder after third activation and calcination.
4.5 kg in weight were employed as a grinding medium. The slurry
obtained in this manner was dried in a drier at 70 °C and the
calcination of the obtained powders were carried out in an electric Table 2
The apparent density, water absorbability and apparent porosity of sintered pellet.
furnace at the maximal temperature of 1100 °C for 8 h, according to
the calcination plan shown in Table 1. The water The apparent The apparent The relative
The BaTiO3 powder, together with 800 ml of isopropanol was then absorbability, % density, g/cm3 porosity, % density, %
milled again for two hours, followed by calcination of the obtained
0.05 5.82 0.28 96.68
powder in the electric furnace at 1100 °C for 8 h. This second
calcination cycle produced BaTiO3 powder that was milled for a third
time for 2 h. The third calcination of the obtained powder to produce 3.2. BaTiO3 pellets
BaTiO3 was undertaken under the same conditions as employed in the
previous two cycles. The theoretical density of the sintered BaTiO3 was assumed to equal
An X′PertPROX diffractometer equipped with a PIXcel detector (Cu 6.02 g/cm3, based on the lattice constant value [27]. The obtained
Kα radiation) was used to record the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns value of relative density (Table 2) is very high and is comparable to
of the powders. The microstructure of BaTiO3 powder was evaluated by those presented by other authors [27].
means of scanning electron microscopy SEM/HITACHI S-3400N/
2007.
In order to improve mouldability, the BaTiO3 powder was granu-
3.3. Grain size
lated. To this end, 3962 g of BaTiO3 powder was milled with deionised
water in a 1:1 ratio in a porcelain mill with a 3 kg ball for 30 min. The
The next parameter influencing the possibility of application of a
following components were then added in the proportion with the
piezoelectric material on actuators is the grain size of the sintered
powder weight: 0.2% dispex, 0.2% oil emulsion F15 and 1% polyvinyl
materials. To determine this feature, photos were prepared of SEM
alcohol PVA. The dispex (BASF) acts as a dispersing agent, the oil
microstructures of BaTiO3 after sintering. Fig. 4 presents the pellet
emulsion F15 (Naftochem) is a slide agent and the polyvinyl alcohol
surface at two different magnifications, ×350 (Fig. 4a) and ×1000
(Japan Vam & Poval) is a plasticiser. The granulation process was
(Fig. 4b), in which compact densification can be observed. The
performed in a spray drier (Niro) together with a peristaltic pomp type
microstructure is composed of both large grains with dimensions
372C with an inlet temperature of 220 °C, outlet temperature of 80 °C
ranging from 50 to 100 µm and smaller examples with dimensions
and spray pressure equal to 40 mm water column.
ranging from 1 to 3 µm. Grain boundaries are very well foreshadowed,
Pellets were obtained in a mould with an external diameter of
with only slender pores visible. These results are in agreement with the
11.5 mm, where BaTiO3 granulate of weight 0.6 g underwent uniaxial
data for pellet densification presented in Table 2 and by investigations
pressing under a pressure of 1 MPa. The green pellets obtained in this
carried out by Yoon and Lee [28].
manner were then isostatically pressed under a pressure of 150 MPa.
Pellets were sintered in the electric furnace in air atmosphere according
to the sintering curve developed on the base of the dilatometric curve
measured using the high temperature dilatometer BÄHR-Gerätebau. 3.4. Adhesive bonding of the pellets
The maximal sintering temperature of the pellets was 1250 °C. The rate
of both heating and cooling was 100 °C/h, while the dwell time was 4 h. For the bonding layers, two kinds of epoxy adhesive (EA) conduct-
ing electric current were used. The first is a Fe-based two-component
molecular component composite (Chester Metal Super) and the second
3. Experimental results is a Ag-based adhesive (Technicqll). According to the technical
specification, the Chester Metal Super adhesive is annealed (after
3.1. BaTiO3 powder initial hardening) at the temperature of 90 °C during 2 h, which
significantly increases the mechanical properties of the adhesive layer.
XRD pattern of BaTiO3 after the third activation and calcination is Optimal stabilisation takes seven days at 20 °C. The bonded layers and
presented in Fig. 3. The diffraction pattern of BaTiO3 powder after the BaTiO3 pellets for BaTiO3-Fe-based EA-BaTiO3 composite (Fig. 5ab)
third mechanical activation and calcination has revealed the tetragonal and BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 composite (Fig. 6ab) were stacked in
phase and fully overlaps with the standard, which means that the the stacking jig and a compressive load was applied on the top of the
single-phase powder was obtained. stacked layers to maximise the adhesion.

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T. Trzepieciński et al.
Fig. 4. SEM microstructure of the pellet surface at two different magnifications: (a)
×250, (b) ×1000.
4. Homogenisation of RVE
4.1. Description of numerical model
In this paper a RVE method with embedded solid inclusions is
developed to predict the effective elastic constants of BaTiO3-EA-
BaTiO3 composites. Two microstructures of adhesive joints of BaTiO3
layers were created using the Digimat-FE 6.1.1 program, e-Xstream
Engineering, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The Digimat MF software is a
multiscale material modelling software based on the Eshelby's single
inclusion solution and Mori-Tanaka model for micromechanical ana-
lysis. The size, distribution and position of inclusions in a material can
be defined by means of parameter adjustment. A size of RVE should
allow one to include the essential microstructural characteristics of
composite layers. However, the RVE size should be as small as possible
so that the stress-strain relations can be considered as homogeneous in
the whole RVE. Furthermore, the computations of the small size of the
RVE are less time consuming.
Different solid particles were used in the simulations. Epoxy
adhesives were modelled as a composition of epoxy resin and metal
(Ag or Fe) inclusions. The particles of Ag (Fig. 7a) and Fe (Fig. 7c) in
epoxy adhesive layers were modelled as prisms (Fig. 8a) with the
following dimensions:
1. Ag inclusion: length of prism base b =40 µm, height h =30 µm, the
aspect ratio δ2 = a/b was equal to 0.12,
2. Fe inclusion: length of prism base b =150 µm, height h =30 µm, the
aspect ratio δ2 = a/b was equal to 0.12.
The BaTiO3 grains were modelled as isocahedron-shaped inclusions
(Fig. 8b) using an average size of 31 µm. The data for the geometrical
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Fig. 5. SEM images of fracture surfaces of BaTiO3-Fe-based EA-BaTiO3 composite at
two different magnifications ×50 (a) and ×200 (b).
shape of the grains were taken based on the SEM images of the pellet
surfaces (Fig. 4a, b). The ceramal was considered as a composition of
air voids and BaTiO3 particles (Fig. 7b). Digimat-FE uses random
placement techniques to place the air voids one after another in the
RVE. The placement of each void results from the convergence of an
iterative process [30]. The values of basic parameters included in the
numerical model are presented in Table 2.
In our investigations Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio (Table 3)
were used to describe the material properties of the simulated layers.
Bulk and shear modulus can be easily derived from these values [11].
The consideration of strength is more difficult in most simulations of
microstructures [11]. However, the equivalent stress concentration
within the microstructure was calculated in the paper. The stress-strain
relation used in the computations are presented in Fig. 9.
The volume fraction of Ag and Fe inclusions was 16% and 19.6%,
respectively. The optical microscopic observations (Figs. 5ab, 6ab) of
the cross-sections of the BaTiO3-EA-BaTiO3 joints reveal that the metal
inclusion distribution in the matrix is random. Topology-related
restrictions and the metal inclusions orientations were not given in
order to speed up the convergence of the random placement of the Ag
and Fe inclusions in the epoxy adhesives.
The effective elastic moduli of the filled composite material (i.e.,
effective bulk moduli G, and effective shear moduli K) are calculated as
a function of the properties of the inclusions and matrix and the
volume content of the inclusions:
5(3Km+4Gm )(Gi − Gm )
G=Gm+ G
9Km+8Gm+6(Km+2Gm ) G i (1)
m
3Km+4Gm
K =Km+f (Ki−Km )
3Ki+4Gm (2)
T. Trzepieciński et al. Ceramics International 43 (2017) 3259–3266

Fig. 8. Parameter definitions for prism (a) and icosahedron (b) inclusion type, prepared
on the basis of [29].

Table 3
Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of analysed material layers.

Material Young’s modulus, GPa Poisson’s ratio

BaTiO3 67 0.35
Ag 83 0.37
Fe 211 0.29
Ag-based EA 5.2 0.34
Fe-based EA 8.56 0.35

The effective Young’s modulus of the composite material E was

determined using the well-known relationship:

9G ∙K
E=
G+3K (3)

Finally, the RVEs of the 3D microstructures of the composites were

generated (Fig. 7de). The interface between the BaTiO3 layers and
Fig. 6. SEM images of fracture surfaces of BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 composite at
epoxy adhesive layer was considered perfectly bonded.
two different magnifications ×50 (a) and ×200 (b).
The aim of the computational homogenisation technique is to
establish non-linear micro-macro structure-property relations. In
where G is the shear moduli and K is the bulk moduli corresponding to
homogenisation, the material is assumed to be sufficiently homoge-
the matrix (subscript m) and inclusion (subscript i) and f is the volume
neous at the macro-scale but heterogeneous at the micro-scale due to
fraction of inclusions.
the existence of inclusions, grains, etc. [17].

Fig. 7. RVEs of Ag-based EA (a), BaTiO3 (b), Fe-based EA (c), BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 composite (d) and BaTiO3-Fe-based EA-BaTiO3 composite (e).

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Fig. 9. Stress-strain relations of analysed materials.
For porous solids, we carried out numerical simulations with the
first-order Mori-Tanaka [31] model and the simple interpretation of it
provided by Benveniste [32]. The Mori-Tanaka model is available for
porous solids in Digimat-MF. The used first order homogenisation
technique is carried out in three steps:
1. the deformation tensor is calculated for every integration point of
the macroscopic mesh;
2. the deformation tensor of a macroscopic point is used to formulate
the boundary conditions that are imposed on the RVE. These
conditions result in the deformation of the RVE;
3. the stress tensor of the initial macroscopic point is calculated by
averaging the stress field in the RVE over the volume of the RVE.
In the first order homogenisation, coupling of the macroscopic and
microscopic deformation and stress is carried out by application of
integral averaging theorems.
In the case of the BaTiO3 microstructure, it was assumed that each
porous cavity behaves as if it were isolated in an infinite body made of
the matrix material [33]. The results of numerical computations are
based on the well-known Eshelby’s solution [34].
4.2. Numerical results
In order to capture the realistic deformation of actuator layers and
BaTiO3-EA interactions, a 3D RVE model with embedded solid-
inclusions is proposed to predict the effective elastic constants of the
BaTiO3-EA-BaTiO3 composites. In this section, the simulation results
will be demonstrated with discussion on the model validation.
The results of the Digimat-FE prediction of stress-strain in the RVE
of epoxy adhesives are presented in Fig. 10. The difference between
curves is a result of the different elastic properties of metal inclusions
in the epoxy resin matrix and volume fraction of the inclusions.
The computation results for the effective moduli, Poisson's ratios
and densities are listed in Table 4. It is found that the average Young’s
modulus values provided by Digimat are in good agreement with the
results obtained from the experiments (Table 2). However, for the RVE
with randomly distributed inclusions, the effective elastic constants of
BaTiO3-EA- BaTiO3 composites predicted by Digimat-FE software are
very diverse in relation to the measurement orientation. It can be
concluded that the developed RVE model of actuator layers takes into
account the effects of porosity and interactions between inclusions and
matrix more realistically, resulting in a more accurate prediction of the
stress-strain states within the composites in comparison with the
isotropic models of actuator material layers analysed by classical
FEM methods. The global densities of the composites (columns 5
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Fig. 10. Numerically predicted stress-strain relations of analysed epoxy adhesives.
and 6 in Table 4) predicted by Digimat-FE do not have physical
meaning because they are a sum of densities of individual materials
included in the composite.
The RVE-based micromechanical model was able to accurately
predict the stress-strain relation for the RVE of adhesively bonded
actuator layers (Fig. 11). The predicted curves are linear and corre-
spond to the range of elastic material behaviour.
Based on the strain energy equivalence principle the effective
stiffness matrixes C of the BaTiO3-Ag-based-BaTiO3 (Eq. (4)) and
BaTiO3-Fe-based-BaTiO3 (Eq. (5)) composites are determined from the
micromechanical analysis with the FE direct mesh method as:
⎡ 670. 178 208. 913 209. 641 0. 2347 0. 0004 1. 2223 ⎤
⎢ 289. 089 664. 591 208. 28 0. 0327 0. 3135 0. 4517 ⎥⎥
⎢
C= ⎢ 209. 463 208. 253 428. 72 0. 1104 0. 0221 0. 1485 ⎥ ∙108
⎢ 0. 0707 0. 0688 0. 1391 188. 095 0. 6318 0. 3359 ⎥
⎢ 0. 7451 4. 5581 ⎥⎥
⎢ 0. 3274 0. 2347 0. 588 153. 568
⎣ 0. 1097 0. 2492 0. 0811 4. 6776 0. 1053 155. 56 ⎦
(4)
⎡ 737. 326 296. 758 225. 381 5. 3315 −6. 3918 6. 0472 ⎤
⎢ 297. 633 674. 566 217. 741 1. 1674 −9. 1122 −0. 2307 ⎥⎥
⎢
C= ⎢ 225. 293 217. 554 473. 68 −1. 9021 −16. 7117 7. 4848 ⎥
⎢ −0. 6161 −0. 6286 −1. 4428 199. 184 −18. 0144 −5. 5341 ⎥
⎢ −6. 8398 −2. 767 −2. 0895 −0. 8134 165. 434 6. 3406 ⎥⎥
⎢
⎣ −0. 2519 −0. 5415 −0. 1756 −0. 3293 0. 4108 179. 368 ⎦
∙108 (5)
The values of non-diagonal components of matrix Cin the columns
and rows 4–6 are much smaller than the values of components in the
columns and rows 1–3. Thus, the modelled composites can be
considered as an orthotropic material.
The Digimat-MF software simulates the elastoplastic behaviour of
composites using the Huber-Mises-Hencky (HMH) criterion, according
to when a material starts to undergo plastic deformation as the stress
intensity in the material reaches the value of yield strength of the
material.
The boundary conditions and applied deformation equal 0.3
(deformation factor equals 0.3) in the z-direction (see Fig. 12) to the
RVE was allowed to represent the macroscopic HMH stress state of the
composites under uniaxial compression loading. The distribution of
equivalent HMH stress in RVEs of BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 and
BaTiO3-Fe-based EA-BaTiO3 composites is presented in Figs. 12 and
13, respectively. In the case of the BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3
arrangement of actuator layers, the lowest value of HMH stress exists
in the epoxy resin matrix layer (Fig. 12). However, the BaTiO3 ceramic
material and Ag inclusions in epoxy resin matrix represent the higher
T. Trzepieciński et al. Ceramics International 43 (2017) 3259–3266

Table 4
Effective moduli, Poisson's ratios and densities determined in the Digimat software.

Parameter BaTiO3 Ag-based EA Fe-based EA Composite: BaTiO3-Ag-based EA- BaTiO3 Composite: BaTiO3-Fe-based EA- BaTiO3

Young’s modulus E11, GPa 67.0433 5.2046 8.5452 50.542 56.4922

Young’s modulus E22, GPa 67.1816 5.66395 9.07925 50.1639 51.5034
Young’s modulus E33, GPa 67.5708 5.14035 8.00756 33.7425 37.5803
Poisson’s ratio μ12 0.340667 0.28395 0.248608 0.332428 0.336388
Poisson’s ratio μ21 0.34137 0.309011 0.264145 0.329843 0.307872
Poisson’s ratio μ13 0.340686 0.321949 0.306124 0.327492 0.321326
Poisson’s ratio μ31 0.343367 0.317974 0.286864 0.218688 0.21248
Poisson’s ratio μ23 0.341153 0.327437 0.292067 0.0.324527 0.313134
Poisson’s ratio μ32 0.343129 0.297168 0.257593 0.0.218215 0.228718
Shear modulus G12, GPa 24.9167 1.94937 3.28549E-11 18.8083 19.9159
Shear modulus G23, GPa 25.0334 2.00978 3.15289E-11 15.3564 16.5354
Shear modulus G13, GPa 25.0144 1.86802 3.2069E-11 15.5549 17.9344
Global density, kg/m3 5839.44 2661.2 2481.24 14340.1 14160.1

Fig. 11. The stress-strain relation for BaTiO3-EA-BaTiO3 composite.

Fig. 13. Equivalent HMH stress in RVE of composite: BaTiO3-Fe-based EA-BaTiO3.

Fig. 12. Equivalent HMH stress in RVE of composite: BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3.

Fig. 14. The response of RVE of BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 composite subjected to
stress level. In the case of equivalent stress in the RVE of BaTiO3-Fe- tension and compression stress state.

based EA-BaTiO3 (Fig. 13) the highest stress level is observed for Fe
inclusions in epoxy resin. The analysis of stress state in the actuator
layers can help to identify induced defects and delaminations.
Delaminations are the main causes of failure of ceramic multilayer
actuators, both at the manufacturing stage and during their use. Local
delaminations result in crack propagation under applied electric fields
or mechanical stress. "Green state" delaminations are caused by
inadequate adhesion between the dielectric layer and the electrode.
An increase of the organic resin content or organic additives of the
electrode can prevent green state delaminations. The other sources of
delamination are electrode-dielectric sintering shrinkage and metallo-
organic catalysis. Mentioned defects are introduced during processing

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but the crack growth and fatigue are also initiated by internal stresses
generated in the actuator. An example of epoxy adhesive layer
deformation is presented in Fig. 1. The numerical simulations of the
load of the actuator microstructure can be qualified by non-destructive
tests for rapid and low cost detection of damage during the working
process. Based on the assumed critical compression strain equal to 0.3
and critical tensile strain of 0.07 we found the non-linear response of
the RVE of BaTiO3-Ag-based EA-BaTiO3 composite (Fig. 14) to tension
and compression stress.
5. Summary and conclusions
The experimental investigations were concerned with the determi-
nation of properties of BaTiO3 ceramic material at each stage of its
fabrication: powder preparation, granulating and sintering. Next, the
obtained pellets of BaTiO3 were bonded using two kinds of electric
current conducting epoxy adhesives (Ag-based and Fe-based). Based
on the results of completed manufacturing process of BaTiO3 pellets
(i.e., grain size, porosity and density) the homogenisation of RVEs of
adhesively bonded BaTiO3 ceramic layers was carried out by using
Digimat-FE software. From the simulation results, conclusions can be
drawn as follows:
1. the RVE model is able to predict stress and strain values in the
BaTiO3-EA-BaTiO3 composite subjected to different stress states,
2. the RVE model allows capturing the realistic deformation of the
epoxy adhesives with metal inclusions,
3. the elastic properties of the BaTiO3 ceramics and both Ag- and Fe-
based composites are in excellent agreement with experimental
values,
4. the values of effective elastic properties, especially effective stiffness
matrix show that modelled composites exhibit orthotropic proper-
ties.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the People Programme (Marie Curie
Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme
FP7/2007-2013/, grant number PITN-GA-2013-606878.
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