Piezoelectric ceramics are widely used in industry in such devices as transducers and actuators. While bulk ceramics perform well in most applications, they are limited in use as actuators where large strains are needed. This research examines bulk piezoelectric ceramics with functional gradients of composition in order to produce large strains. Layered lead zirconate titanate ceramics were centrifugally cast with compositional gradients from Pb(Zr 0.50 Ti 0.50 )O 3 to Pb(Zr 0.45 Ti 0.55 )O 3 . X-ray diffraction was used to confirm the unpoled state of each layer of the functionally graded ceramic. X-ray diffraction and d 33 measurements were made to confirm the Curie temperature of each layer of the functionally graded ceramic through depoling. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was performed to determine the composition of each layer in the ceramic.
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Shelley et al. (1999) studied this question.