By directly using experimental hysteresis loop data, a Landau theory-based model has been developed to investigate the effects of externally applied stimuli (electric field, stress, and temperature) on the average, time-dependent response in ferroelectric ceramics. For both PLZT and BNT-BT-KNN systems, experimentally observed (macroscopic) metastable states are a result of a free energy minimum that develops at a zero polarization state when the sample is subject to an externally applied field. Additionally, the frequency dependent hysteresis response demonstrates that a transition between relaxor ferroelectric and antiferroelectric develops at a critical cycling frequency, in agreement with the literature. The appearance of frequency-induced and electric field amplitude-induced kinetically stabilized phases is proposed and summarized in terms of frequency-stress and frequency-temperature response maps.

The macroscopic hysteretic response associated to the underlying microscopic 180° switching of domains in a polycrystalline ferroelectric system is investigated for bipolar, sesquipolar, and unipolar electrical loadings. As a result of the intergranular interactions and physical electromechanical couplings, three polarization populations are found and summarized as the linear superposition of four Gaussian polarization distributions. These distributions quantify the simple switching, the negative switching, and the domain‐pinning mechanisms. The reconfiguration of the local polarization and hydrostatic stress distribution indicates that the polarization domains and stress fields are correlated during ferroelectric domain switching. Results show that in the sesquipolar regime, tensile stresses are minimized by 33% and compressive stress minimized by 38%. The maximum strain output decreases by only 1%, thus favoring favoring fatigue‐reduced actuation microstructures.