Loss integration in ATILA software

Finite element analysis can be applied to smart structures with piezoelectric or magnetostrictive materials rather successfully when neither the applying electric field nor the generating AC strain is very large and when the linear relation can be supposed in the strain vs electric field or the strain vs stress. However, further improvement in the FEM algorithm is required for high field or high power drive of the piezoelectric system, where nonlinear and hysteretic characteristics should be taken into account, as well as heat generation. In this chapter, we will discuss the high power issues. There are three hysteresis loss components for piezoelectric vibrators, i.e., dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric losses. Mechanical quality factors play a significant role in the loss study of piezoelectrics, and they are basically related to all dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric loss factors. Besides, a higher quality factor at the antiresonance is usually observed in the PZT based experiments, in comparison with that at the resonance. ATILA is the unique software for adopting dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric losses separately to calculate the impedance/admittance curve.