Microstructure design and optimization of multilayered piezoelectric composites with wavy architectures.

In this article, the impact of poling direction and microstructure geometric parameters including PZT-7A volume fraction, PZT-7A layer number and unit cell amplitude-to-wavelength ratio on the homogenized electromechanical properties of PZT-7A/PVDF multilayered wavy composites are explored for the first time with the Multiphysics FVDAM. Then, a comprehensive parametric study is conducted toward microstructure effects of the above geometric parameters on the performance of the piezoelectric composites, evaluated by figures of merits. Further, the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is proposed to combine with the Multiphysics FVDAM to effectively maximize the performance indices by optimizing the microstructure geometric parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]