Identification of crystalline elastic anisotropy in PZT ceramics from in-situ blocking stress measurements

High energy x-ray diffraction measurements of lattice strains were performed on a rhombohedral Lead Zirconate Titanate ceramic (PZT 55-45) under combinations of applied electric field and compressive stress. These measurements allow the construction of blocking stress curves for different sets of crystallographic orientations which reflect the single crystal elastic anisotropy. A micro-mechanical interpretation of the results is then proposed. Assuming cubic symmetry for the crystalline elastic stiffness tensor and isotropy for the macroscopic elastic properties, the elastic properties of the single crystal are extracted from the measured data. An anisotropy ratio close to 0.3 is found (compared to 1 for isotropic materials). The high level of anisotropy found in this work suggests that crystalline elastic anisotropy should not be neglected in the modelling of ferroelectric materials.