Abstract
The contact behavior between a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material and a rigid-conducting punch of flat-end was analyzed under the condition that there is no biased-electric potential applied to the punch. Two limiting cases were studied; one was for semi-infinite piezoelectric materials and the other for piezoelectric films with contact radius much larger than the film thickness. Analytical relationships were derived between the indentation load and the indentation depth and between the indentation-induced potential and the indentation depth. Both the indentation load and the indentation-induced potential are proportional to the indentation depth. For the adhesive contact, the pull-off force is proportional to the 3/2 power of the punch radius for semi-infinite piezoelectric materials and to the square of the punch radius for piezoelectric films. The piezoelectric charge coefficient determined from the contact deformation of a piezoelectric film with contact radius much larger than the film thickness is only dependent on dielectric constant and piezoelectric constant.