This paper presents a complete physical model of a piezoelectric actuator. The electrical and the mechanical parameters of the actuator are being considerate. The performance of the actuator was simulated and examined under different operating modes. The model presented herein offers a complete behavioral model that is formulated by describing the observed static and dynamic characteristics of stacked piezoelectric elements mounted in a practical mechanism. A Matlab-Simulink software model is presented and the behavior of an array of three different piezoelectric stack elements was simulated. The three piezoelectric elements were connected mechanically in tandem and driven by the same electrical input. Different operating cases were examined, in particular failure mechanisms and their influence on the system level. The paper introduces practical application employing the embedded properties of the model. The simulation results were compared to the measured results taken on a proof of principle prototype. It was found that the presented model can accurately and reliably represent and predict a system level behavior of a piezoelectric stack elements configured in an actuator mechanism.