A diamond-shaped amplified piezo actuator (APA) fabricated using six multilayered piezo stacks with maximum displacement of 173？μm at 175？V and the amplification factor of 4.3. The dynamic characterization of the actuator was carried out at different frequencies (100？Hz–1？kHz) and at different AC voltages (20？V–40？V). The actuator response over this frequency range was found neat, without attenuation of the signal. Numerical modeling of multilayered stack actuator was carried out using empirical equations, and the electromechanical analysis was carried out using ABAQUS software. The block force of the APA was 81？N, calculated by electromechanical analysis. This is similar to that calculated by dynamic characterization method. 1. Introduction Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is a well-known piezo material that produces electric charges on application of mechanical stress (as sensor) or undergoes dimensional change when subjected to an electric field (as actuator) [1–5]. One major drawback of the piezo materials is the low displacement of the order of 0.1–0.15% of the total length; therefore, thick piezo stacks are required even for the moderate-strain requirements. For high-strain requirements wherein the requirement of the strain is in few millimeters, simple multilayer stacks are not suitable. This leads to the development of the various types of high-strain amplified actuators such as hydraulic actuator [6–13], Moonie [14] and Cymbal [15], diamond-shaped actuator, and bow-shaped actuator. In this study, the details of the fabrication and characterization of a diamond-shaped amplified actuators rare presented. Numerical modeling of multilayered stack actuator and amplified actuator is carried out using empirical equations and the electromechanical analysis using ABAQUS software. The values are correlated to the experimental results. 2. Experimental Procedure 2.1. Preparation of PZT Slurry PZT stacks were fabricated by tape-casting method using in-house-prepared PZT powders [16]. A well-dispersed PZT slurry was prepared using required amount of PZT powder, organic solvents (methyl ethyl ketone and ethanol), dispersant (Triton), binder, plasticizers, and so forth, by ball milling for 72？hr. An optimized PZT slurry composition is presented in Table 1. The slurry was then filtered and cast on a silicon-coated Mylar sheet using a laboratory tape caster. The thickness of the green tapes is varied between 20？μm and 200？μm by changing the parameters such as the clearance of doctor blade, the casting speed, and the viscosity of the slurry. Table 1: Typical PZT
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