A Low-Cost Experimental Setup to Characterize Piezoelectric Cantilever Bimorphs

Hysteresis is a common phenomenon in nonlinear systems. Piezoelectric bimorphs show hysteretic behavior when operating as actuators. Tools that produce the characterization of these devices are available; they use high-cost setups that measure deformations with resolutions on the order of nanometers. In this paper, a new low-cost experimental setup that uses coupled infrared detectors to investigate the behavior of piezoelectric actuators is discussed. The tool, providing deformation measurements with a resolution on the order of 10 ìm, is intended to produce a rough estimation of the device behavior and is of interest for research and educational purposes. Low cost, easy reproducibility in research and educational laboratories, a contactless measurement strategy, an inset calibration facility, and a suitable user interface are the main features of the tool developed. Notes on the uncertainty introduced by the tool when estimating bimorph deformations are given. Moreover, a case study that concerns the characterization of a piezoelectric bimorph actuator is discussed to illustrate the performance of the system developed in a real case.