Time-dependent relaxation dynamics of remanent strain in textured PMN–PZ–PT and PMN–PIN–PT piezoceramics

• Investigated time delay for remanent strain relaxation in textured piezoceramics. • Relaxation time is strongly influenced by the domain wall pinning. • Embedded templates in textured grains induced longer relaxation time. • Small grain size also induced longer relaxation time than large grain size. • To control time delay seems essential for positioning consistency of piezo-actuators. Crystallographically textured lead-based piezoceramics, particularly Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –PbZrO 3 –PbTiO 3 (PMN–PZ–PT) and Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –Pb(In 1/2 Nb 1/2 )O 3 –PbTiO 3 (PMN–PIN–PT), play a pivotal role in electromechanical applications due to their enhanced field-induced strain responses. However, challenges in precision positioning arise from heightened remanent strain (S r ) caused by embedded templates in the textured grains, impacting strain cycle consistency due to increased time delay for S r relaxation. This study investigates the time-dependent relaxation dynamics of S r in textured PMN–PZ–PT and PMN–PIN–PT piezoceramics, focusing on experimentally determining relaxation time between cycles required for complete S r relaxation. Our findings reveal that the relaxation time in textured piezoceramics is notably longer than that in their non-textured counterparts, primarily due to pinning of domain walls by embedded templates. This work provides insights into the strain relaxation characteristics of piezoceramics and underscores the importance of time delay in designing precision positioning systems for improved reliability.