Electric energy generation by shock compression of ferroelectric ceramics: normal-mode response of PZT 95/5

Reproducible and predictable electrical pulses with peak powers of a few hundred kilowatts lasting for a few microseconds can be obtained from shock-wave compressed ferroelectrics. Impact-loading techniques are used to investigate the electromechanical response of poled specimens of a ferroelectric ceramic, PZT 95/5, to long-duration shock pulses. The experiments are conducted in the normal mode in which the shock propagation vector is perpendicular to the remanent polarization. Current histories are obtained as a function of load resistance for a fixed shock amplitude of 1.4 GPa, and few additional experiments investigate the stress dependence of the electrical response. A simple, though specific, model is developed that gives good agreement with observed results. The extension of this model to other materials and shock-loading conditions is discussed