SHEAR FORCES IN THICKNESS-MODE PIEZOELECTRIC CERAMIC PLATES

A. Marques*, J. Mendes+, R. Ribeiro+, M.A. Vaz+

*
ISEP – Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal
+
DEMEGI - Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Introduction
Piezoelectric ceramic plates have been widely used for pressure measurements, mainly due to their rapid
response to dynamic pressure signals and powerless sensing characteristics.
In this work we present the ability of such ceramics in measuring shear forces induced by a piezo impact
device (piezo-pecker system [1]) placed on the top of our sensing piezoelectric ceramic. The induced impact
force can be controlled in time and amplitude. Measuring shear forces can be interesting in many biomedical
applications, such as prostheses interfaces to evaluate or predict their displacement [2], or even, as one of the
methods of preventing ulcers in the diabetic foot, complementing information on feet plantar pressures [3].

Materials and Methods

The so-called piezo-pecker system consists on a multilayer thickness-mode piezo glued in between two
masses m1 and m2, (m1>m2). The symmetry axes of these three elements lie on the same horizontal plane.
Mass m1 is positioned on the top surface of our sensing piezoelectric ceramic plate (Philips 10x10x1mm3
pzt). In this way, mass m2 is allowed to move freely, while mass m1 is subjected to a friction force in the
contact surface, which in the limit would tend to infinity when this mass is glued to the sensing piezo. Shear
forces are produced when the piezo-pecker system is excited with fast rising (hundreds of μs) and slow
falling (tens of ms) voltage pulse, resulting in a applied signal frequency of about 50 Hz. As a result, the
piezo-actuator expands rapidly, generating an horizontal impact force with the same duration of the voltage
rising edge, contracting afterwards, very slowly. The amplitude and the rising and falling edges of the
applied voltage pulses were varied using a Labview™ application to control the home-made piezo-amplifier
[4]. The shortest rising time that can be achieved with this amplifier is about 200 μs. After insulating the
connecting cables to avoid induced currents and making sure the electrical connections all had the same
voltage reference, we applied different voltage amplitudes and also for the same amplitude vary the voltage
rising time.

Results and Discussion

As expected, we observed a linear dependence of the output sensing voltage with either the amplitude of the
applied signal and the duration of its rising edge (Figure 1 and Figure 2).

700 300
Figure 1 Figure 2
250
600
Sensing Voltage (mV)

Sensing Voltage (mV)

200
500
150
400
100
300 50

200 0
0 500 1000 1500 0 20 40 60 80 100
Rising Time ( μs) Applied Voltage (V)

Due to the dynamic response of the piezo, the obtained result shows that faster signals result in higher output
voltages. As the force exerted upon a piezoelectric ceramic is related to the charge generated on the ceramic
electrodes, also the output amplitude variation is clearly due to shear force variation and no other effect. An
average slope of about 2,7 mV/V was obtained representing the amplitude transfer rate from the piezo-pecker
to the sensing piezo.

Conclusions
The results indicate that thickness-mode piezoelectric ceramics can be used to measure shear forces. With
adequate layout and choice of materials, these piezoelectric properties can be used in biomechanical
applications.

References
[1] US patent 4 894 579 (1990).
[2] L. Cristofolini et al., A novel transducer for the measurement of cement–prosthesis interface forces in
cemented orthopaedic devices, Medical Engineering & Physics 22 (2000) 493–501.
[3] R. Hosein, M. Lord, A study of in-shoe plantar shear in normals, Clinical Biomechanics 15 (2000) 46-53.
[4] J. G. Mendes, Two novel-piezo actuations: an accurate micropositionning device and an active vibration
system for sewing machines, PhD Thesis, Universidade Minho, Portugal 2002.