Synthesis of Piezocomposites

Piezocomposite materials are largely applied to acoustical devices such as sonars and ultrasonic transducers. Their development has also been based on the use of simple analytical models, test of prototypes, and analysis using the finite element method (FEM). Thus, following the idea of applying synthesis methods to design smart materials and MEMS structures, this chapter presents systematic synthesis methods for piezocomposite materials by using the topology optimization combined with the homogenization technique. In this method, a piezocomposite material with improved electromechanical efficiency is obtained by designing its unit cell topology. Beginning with a brief introduction to piezocomposite materials, its performance measurement, the concept of the homogenization method, and its manufacturing technique, the chapter provides a self-contained description of the synthesis method for these materials. The examples presented show that the synthesis method is indeed a promising tool to design these smart materials.