Abstract
The primary objectives of this work are about the experimental study on the nonlinear electromechanical behaviour of the macro fiber composite(MFC), and to analyse the affecting factors of the inconstant parameters d33 and d31 which can arouse nonlinearities of MFC. Both longitudinal and transverse output strains are measured by actuating the MFC specimen under different DC voltages and a range of peak-to-peak sinusoidal voltages (VPP) at various frequencies, which can investigate how the voltage amplitude and frequency affect nonlinear hysteretic behavior. The experimental results of both DC voltages and AC voltages indicate that the relationship of the applied voltage and output strain displays nonlinear hysteretic behavior. The responses of the AC voltages also indicate that hysteresis nonlinearity behaviour of the MFC actuator is sensitive to the varying voltage amplitude and frequency. The higher the voltage and frequency are, the more obvious the hysteresis phenomenon are.