Piezoelectric Bending Elements and Patch Transducers

Piezoelectric bending transducers are often referred to as bimorph transducers.  The piezo benders shown here consist of two ceramic layers. The bending motion is caused by one layer being operated in contraction mode, while the other layer is expanding.

PI manufactures rectangular and circular piezo benders in classical two-layer / three-layer design and also in cofired multilayer construction (which require lower operating voltage). 

Two-layer benders are available in sizes up to 25x50mm for standard transducers. Circular PZT bending transducers are available with diameters from 5mm to 50mm and thickness from 0.3mm to 2mm.  Piezo benders can achieve significantly larger displacement compared to stacked piezo actuators. An extremely bendable patch transducer is also available for sensing, actuation and energy generation.

Piezo Micro Bender Elements

PI also manufactures piezo micro benders, available in dimensions as small as 1x3mm, and 400µm thickness with tolerances to 50µm.