Finite element analysis and EMA predictions of the dielectric and pyroelectric properties of 0-3 Pz59/PVDF-TrFE composites with experimental validation

• The dielectric constant of 0–3 ceramic-polymer composites is very well predicted by finite element analysis (FEA) • FEA is a powerful tool to simulate the pyroelectric properties of the composites. • The through-thickness distribution of the pyroelectric coefficient can be accurately calculated. • FEA allows the component-resolved spatial distribution of the pyroelectric response to be simulated. Dielectric and pyroelectric thick film materials are of growing interest for applications in medicine, advanced sensors, energy storage and energy harvesting. In the present work, thick 0–3 composite films consisting of particles of a relaxor material embedded in the ferroelectric co-polymer PVDF-TrFE are characterized in terms of dielectric and pyroelectric properties. The experimentally measured properties are compared with the predictions of analytical models and finite element analysis (FEA). A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed via FEA to calculate the effective dielectric constant as a function of the volume fraction (0–30%) of the ceramic particles. An electro-thermal coupled model is proposed to calculate the pyroelectric coefficient. Furthermore, the distribution of the pyroelectric coefficient in different layers of the ferroelectric composite with 30 % ceramic volume fraction together with the component-resolved spatial distribution of the pyroelectric response are analyzed. Overall, simulation and experiment results show very good agreement. In particular, by analyzing the temperature distribution in the thick film, it is demonstrated that the pyroelectric coefficient increases from top to bottom surfaces. Ceramic particle distribution also affects the pyroelectric current.