Design of a generalised charge-based self-sensing model for quasi-static piezoelectric actuators

Self-sensing actuation is defined by the ability to derive the state of an actuator by exclusively measuring physical signals produced by the actuator itself, which can be done thanks to the reversibility of the piezoelectric effect. Most modern piezoelectric self-sensing methods have made use of charge measurement with several kinds of piezoelectric actuators (e.g. linear stacks, cantilevers, shear stacks, etc.). This paper provides a generalized model and approach for describing the system equations of piezoelectric actuators regardless of their morphology with actuator parameters being calculated separately. This will provide an understanding of each of these parameters' influence on the self-sensing performance. A test setup has been assembled and used to corroborate measurements with the provided analytical models.