Laminated piezopolymer plates for torsion and bending sensors and actuators

A set of piezopolymer devices has been developed based on a composite laminate theory for piezoelectric polymer materials. By using different combinations of ply angles and electrode patterns, a piezopolymer/metal shim plate structure was built that exhibited both bending and torsion deformation under an applied electric field. A set of torsion‐beam sensor structures was also built that could distinguish between bending and torsion or between different vibration modes. These devices were based on a general theory of piezoelectric laminates. The experimental results agreed quite closely with the theoretical predictions. These integrated sensor–actuator devices may find application in the control of microactuators or may be used for modal control of larger continuous structures.