Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Experiments have been conducted to study the nonlinear constitutive properties of ferroelectric ceramics for large strain operation applications, where the mechanical behavior of the material dictates the overall electromechanical response of the devices. For this purpose, polarization and strain are measured continuously on a compression cuboid. Severe non-linear and hysteretic behavior is observed in these materials. An empirical formulation has been proposed to model the constitutive laws applicable to this non-linear deformation. Physical mechanism is provided, that is attributed to this constitutive law.