A procedure for the efficient selection of piezoelectric ceramics constituting high-power ultrasonic transducers

The most characteristic narrow-band transducer structure for high-power ultrasonic applications is the well known piezoelectric sandwich which is reminiscent of the Langevin transducer. Such structure is generally used jointly with other components in the construction of industrial high-power transducers. One of the main objectives in the design and construction of such high-power transducers is to minimize energy losses. To that purpose the selection of the piezoelectric ceramic rings forming the sandwich requires clear and specific criteria. This paper deals with a numerical and experimental procedure for the accurate selection of the piezoelectric rings constituting high-power transducers, based on the analysis of the mechanical Q, the frequency and the resonance curve. The procedure was experimentally checked by constructing and characterizing several transducer structures.     

Load characteristics of high power sandwich piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers

Based on the equivalent circuit theory, the load characteristics of high power piezoelectric ultrasonic sandwich transducers are studied. Two types of loads are studied. One is liquid load as in ultrasonic cleaning, and the other is solid load as in ultrasonic drilling and machining. The effect of load and structure of the transducer on the resonance frequency of the transducer is analyzed. It is shown that the effect of load on the resonance frequency of sandwich transducers with different structures is different. For liquid load as in ultrasonic cleaning, the effect of the load on the resonance frequency of the sandwich transducer with symmetrical structure is the largest. It is the smallest for the transducer with its displacement node in the back metal cylinder. For solid load as in ultrasonic drilling and machining, the effect of the load on the resonance frequency of the sandwich transducer with its displacement node in the front metal cylinder is the largest. It is also the smallest for the transducer with its displacement node in the back metal cylinder. On the other hand, for some applications, such as ultrasonic drilling, when the lateral dimension of the tool is much less than that of the transducer, its effect on the resonance frequency of the transducer is small. The conclusions are useful in designing vibrating systems for different ultrasonic applications.     

Design and acoustic characterization of limited diffraction ultrasonic devices

Limited diffraction ultrasonic transducers are devices that have a large depth of acoustic field without important effects of diffraction, which make them optimal in applications of medical images, among others. This report details how this special type of piezoelectric device was designed by means of a simple technology using three electrodes in the form of concentric rings in both faces of a ferroelectric ceramic disk, which were used to apply a profile of non-homogeneous polarization. Once designed, the radiation fields emitted by these resonators were characterized experimentally by electro-acoustic and acousto-optic techniques and were compared with those emitted by conventional devices. As shown in the experimental characterizations, ultrasonic transducers with optimal properties for use in medical applications such as good collimation of the ultrasound beam, high lateral resolution, as well as little effects of diffraction were obtained.     

厚度模压电超声换能器无源声学材料研究进展*

厚度模压电超声换能器作为超声波发射、接收以及电信号间转换的载体,是超声成像与检测系统的核心器件,一般由压电层、匹配层和背衬层3部分组成。超声换能器的性能一定程度上决定着整体超声设备的性能,影响了其在工业、医学、军事等领域的应用。该换能器的关键性能指标(带宽、灵敏度)除了受到压电层的影响,还与匹配层、背衬层等无源声学材料的设计密切相关。该文综述了近年来厚度模压电超声换能器无源声学材料(匹配层、背衬层和声透镜)的研究进展,提出了当前该类材料面临的难题和解决途径,并对其未来发展方向进行了展望。     

Modeling NDT piezoelectric ultrasonic transmitters

Ultrasonic NDT applications are frequently based on the spike excitation of piezoelectric transducers by means of efficient pulsers which usually include a power switching device (e.g. SCR or MOS-FET) and some rectifier components. In this paper we present an approximate frequency domain electro-acoustic model for pulsed piezoelectric ultrasonic transmitters which, by integrating partial models of the different stages (driving electronics, tuning/matching networks and broadband piezoelectric transducer), allows the computation of the emission transfer function and output force temporal waveform. An approximate frequency domain model is used for the evaluation of the electrical driving pulse from the spike generator. Tuning circuits, interconnecting cable and mechanical impedance matching layers are modeled by means of transmission lines and the classical quadripole approach. The KLM model is used for the piezoelectric transducer. In addition, a PSPICE scheme is used for an alternative simulation of the broadband driving spike, including the accurate evaluation of non-linear driving effects. Several examples illustrate the capabilities of the specifically developed software.     

Study of the sandwiched piezoelectric ultrasonic torsional transducer

The sandwiched piezoelectric ultrasonic torsional transducer was studied. The transducer consists of front and back metal cylinders, and coaxially segmented, tangentially polarized, piezoelectric ceramic tubes. The torsional vibration of the tangentially polarized piezoelectric ceramic slender tube was studied first and its electromechanical equivalent circuit was derived. Based on the network theory and the electromechanical equivalent circuit, the torsional vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic cylinder, formed by stacking a number of identical short piezoelectric ceramic rings, was analysed and the electromechanical equivalent circuit of the piezoelectric ceramic stack in torsional vibration was developed. Finally, the sandwiched ultrasonic torsional transducer was studied and resonance frequency equations were derived which can be used to design and calculate the torsional transducers for different applications.     

Fine grains ceramics of PIN-PT, PIN-PMN-PT and PMN-PT systems: drift of the dielectric constant under high electric field

Lead-based ferroelectric ceramics with (1-x)Pb(B1 B2)O3-xPbTiO3 formula have emerged as a group of promising materials for various applications like ultrasonic sonars or medical imaging transducers. (1-x)PMN-xPT, (1-x)PIN-xPT and ternary solutions xPIN-yPMN-zPT ceramics are synthesised using the solid state reaction method. Our objective is to achieve higher structural transition temperatures than those of PMN-PT ceramics with as good dielectric, piezoelectric and electromechanical properties. Ceramics capacitance and loss tangent are measured when the ac field of measurement increases up to E=500 V/mm. Behaviours of these materials under ac field are related to their coercive field and Curie temperature.     

Study on the denoising method for the electromagnetic ultrasonic echoes from multiple interfaces

The electromagnetic ultrasound is used in the detection of interfaces of the adhesive multilayer structures to solve the unstable coupling problem in ultrasonic testing by traditional piezoelectric transducers. Based on the analysis of the transforming mechanism of electromag-netic ultrasound energy and the resultant dead zone from mutual inductance of the transducer, the wavelet filtering by soft-thresholding and adaptive noise canceling methods are used simul-taneously to the detected electromagnetic ultrasonic signals to overcome the drawbacks of the low signal to noise ratio （SNR） and the wide intrinsic dead zone of the transducer. Processed results in the interface detection of a three layered adhesive sample of steel and rubber materials demonstrate that the wavelet filtering enhances the SNR about 12dB while the adaptive noise canceling narrows the dead zone effectively.     

Fabrication and comparison of PMN-PT single crystal, PZT and PZT-based 1-3 composite ultrasonic transducers for NDE applications

This paper describes fabrication and comparison of PMN-PT single crystal, PZT, and PZT-based 1-3 composite ultrasonic transducers for NDE applications. As a front matching layer between test material (Austenite stainless steel, SUS316) and piezoelectric materials, alumina ceramics was selected. The appropriate acoustic impedance of the backing materials for each transducer was determined based on the results of KLM model simulation. Prototype ultrasonic transducers with the center frequencies of approximately 2.25 and 5 MHz for contact measurement were fabricated and compared to each other. The PMN-PT single crystal ultrasonic transducer shows considerably improved performance in sensitivity over the PZT and PZT-based 1-3 composite ultrasonic transducers.     

Optimum tuning of series and parallel LR circuits for passive vibration suppression using piezoelectric elements

Bending vibration of flexible structures can be suppressed passively using piezoelectric electromechanical transducers and optimally tuned LR circuits. Since these systems include both mechanical and electrical elements, the governing equations consist of electrically coupled equations of motion. This paper describes a new method for deriving the governing equations that describe a system’s vibration suppression based on the equilibrium of force principle and using an equivalent mechanical model of a piezoelectric element. Both series and parallel LR circuits are considered in the modeling approach. The optimum values for a mechanical vibration absorber can be formulated by using the two fixed points method. However, exact optimal values for the resistances of the LR circuits have not been formulated in the research literature thus far, and approximate values have been used. Analytical formulations are derived in this paper, and optimum values of the LR circuits are presented, not only in displacement, but also in terms of velocity and acceleration. The effects of the stiffness of the adhesive bond between the host structure and piezoelectric element, the dielectric loss in a piezoelectric element, and the internal resistance of an inductor are considered in the theoretical analysis. The effectiveness of the described analytical method is validated through simulations and experiments.     

Effects of coupled vibrations on the acoustical performance of underwater cylindrical shell transducers

An experimental investigation of the effects of coupled vibrations on the acoustical performance of underwater transducers made from radially polarized, thin walled, air-backed, piezoelectric cylinders as a function of their height-to-diameter aspect ratio is presented. Characteristics of the frequency response, directivity patterns, and effectiveness of the transducers are considered in comparison with analogous characteristics for the transducers comprised of mechanically separated rings, otherwise having the same geometry. Recommendations are made on the application of cylindrical piezoelectric elements with different aspect ratios for underwater transducer applications.     

Power ultrasound and its applications: A state-of-the-art review

Ultrasonic processing has attracted increasing attention by people because ultrasonic technology may represent a flexible ‘green’ alternative for energy efficient processes. The major challenges for the power ultrasound application in real situations are the design and development of specific power ultrasonic systems for large-scale operations. Thus, new families of power ultrasonic transducers have been developed in recent years to meet actual needs, and this contributes to the implementation of power ultrasound of application in many fields such as chemical industry, food industry and manufacturing. This paper presents the current state of ultrasonic transducers of magnetostrictiv type and piezoelectric type as well as applications of power ultrasound in various industrial fields including chemical reactions, drying/dehydration, welding, extraction, heat transfer enhancement, de-ice, enhanced oil recovery, droplet atomization, cleaning and fine particle removal. The review paper helps to understand the current development of power ultrasonic technology and its applications in various situations, and induce extended applications of power ultrasound to more and more fields.     

Lead-free KNLNT piezoelectric ceramics for high-frequency ultrasonic transducer application

This paper presents the latest development of a lead-free piezoelectric ceramic and its application to transducers suitable for high-frequency ultrasonic imaging. A lead-free piezoelectric ceramic with formula of (K_0.5Na_0.5)_0.97Li_0.03(Nb_0.9 Ta_0.1)O₃ (abbreviated as KNLNT-0.03/0.10) was fabricated and characterized. The material was found to have a clamped dielectric constant ε₃₃^S/ε₀ = 890, piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ = 245 pC/N, electromechanical coupling factor k_t = 0.42 and Curie temperature T_c > 300 °C. High-frequency (40 MHz) ultrasound transducers were successfully fabricated with the lead-free material. A representative lead-free transducer had a bandwidth of 45%, two-way insertion loss of -18 dB. This performance is comparable to reported performances of popular lead-based transducers. The comparison results suggest that the lead-free piezoelectric material may serve as an alternative to lead-based piezoelectric materials for high-frequency ultrasonic transducer applications.     

Time delay spectrometry for hydrophone calibrations below 1 MHz

Knowing the response of miniature ultrasonic hydrophones at frequencies below 1 MHz is important for assessing the accuracy of acoustic pressure pulse measurements in medical ultrasound applications. Therefore, a time delay spectrometry (TDS) system was developed as an efficient means to measure hydrophone sensitivity in this frequency range. In TDS a swept-frequency signal is transmitted. A tracking receiver distinguishes arrivals with different propagation delays by their frequency offset relative to the signal being transmitted, thus eliminating spurious signals such as those reflected from the water surface or tank walls. Two piezoelectric ceramic source transducers were used: a standard planar disk and a disk with varying thickness to broaden the thickness-resonance. This latter design was preferred for its more uniform response without significant sensitivity loss. TDS is not an absolute method, but it was demonstrated to provide efficient, accurate calibrations via comparison with a reference hydrophone using a substitution technique.     

Assessing the relationship between the inter-rod coupling and the efficiency of piezocomposite high-intensity focused ultrasound transducers

The electroacoustic conversion efficiency of the ultrasonic transducer is a critical performance index for high-power applications. The material properties, volume fraction (VF) and aspect ratio (AR) are typically regarded as the design parameters of the piezocomposite transducer. We hypothesized that the spacing between piezoelectric rods was also a dominant factor. Therefore, the inter-rod coupling effects on the efficiency of 1–3 piezocomposite ultrasonic transducers were investigated in this study. The efficiencies of six flat and three curved 1.0 MHz PZT4 epoxy composite transducers with different geometric parameters were measured. Finite element transient analyses of the inter-rod electrical-mechanical coupling in the composites were carried out to explain the measured results. The experimental results showed that for 0.47 AR, the 79% VF transducers had lower efficiency than the 64% VF and 53% VF transducers. For 0.19 AR, the efficiency of the 59% VF transducer was not greater than the efficiency of the 39% VF transducer. Numerical analyses demonstrated that the positive peak voltage induced by the coupling of the side rods was more than twice the level induced by the coupling of the diagonal rods for any spacing. The diagonal coupling voltage peak did not change for spacings larger than 0.2 mm. Moreover, for spacings of 0.05 and 0.1 mm, the inter-rod coupling caused 24% and 20% waveform shifts of the driving voltage, respectively, while the 0.2 mm spacing coupling caused a 14% reduction in the amplitude of the driving voltage. As a result, the asymmetry of the driving voltage degraded the efficiency of the composite transducers and became more severe when the spacing was decreased. We concluded that the efficiency loss induced by inter-rod coupling as a function of spacing should be considered when designing piezocomposite transducers.     

Factors in the design of ultrasonic probes

This paper attempts to demonstrate the comprehensive way in which the Unit Impulse Response technique can be used to evaluate and calibrate thickness mode piezoelectric transducers and the ultrasonic probes made from these transducers. Two commonly used piezoelectric materials were compared in the form of batches of disc transducers at several different frequencies and diameters.At higher system gains spurious signals associated with transverse mode resonances seriously reduced the discrimination of the probe. These spurious effects were fully investigated and explained.The effects of backing; quarter-wavelength matching into water; and electrical tuning, were measured and explained.Other methods of measuring the transducer parameters based on frequency response analysis were considered.     

Review of the design of power ultrasonic generator for piezoelectric transducer

The power ultrasonic generator (PUG) is the core device of power ultrasonic technology (PUT), and its performance determines the application of this technology in biomedicine, semiconductor, aerospace, and other fields. With the high demand for sensitive and accurate dynamic response in power ultrasonic applications, the design of PUG has become a hot topic in academic and industry. However, the previous reviews cannot be used as a universal technical manual for industrial applications. There are many technical difficulties in establishing a mature production system, which hinder the large-scale application of PUG for piezoelectric transducers. To enhance the performance of the dynamic matching and power control of PUG, the studies in various PUT applications have been reviewed in this article. Initially, the demand design covering the piezoelectric transducer application and parameter requirements for ultrasonic and electrical signals is overall summarized, and these parameter requirements have been recommended as the technical indicators of developing the new PUG. Then the factors affecting the power conversion circuit design are analyzed systematically to realize the foundational performance improvement of PUG. Furthermore, advantages and limitations of key control technologies have been summarized to provide some different ideas on how to realize automatic resonance tracking and adaptive power adjustment, and to optimize the power control and dynamic matching control. Finally, several research directions of PUG in the future have been prospected.     

Piezoelectric effect in polyvinylidene fluoride at high frequencies

A strong piezoelectric effect in polyvinylidene fluoride was observed at frequencies as high as 500 MHz using polarized films as ultrasonic transducers. In contrast to the low frequency behaviour, the transducer efficiency showed a remarkable increase with decreasing temperature.     

Study on the Langevin piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducer of longitudinal-flexural composite vibrational mode

In this paper, the Langevin longitudinal-flexural composite mode piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer is studied. This type of transducers consists of slender metal rods and longitudinally polarized piezoelectric ceramic rings. The resonance frequency equations for the longitudinal and flexural vibrations in the transducer are derived. By correcting the length of the metal slender rods, the simultaneous resonance of the longitudinal and flexural vibrations in the transducer is acquired. The experimental results show that the measured resonance frequencies of the transducers are in good agreement with the computed ones, and the measured resonance frequencies of the longitudinal and the flexural vibrations in the composite transducers are also in good agreement with each other.     

Estimation of some transducer parameters in a broadband piezoelectric transmitter by using an artificial intelligence technique

An estimation procedure to efficiently find approximate values of internal parameters in ultrasonic transducers intended for broadband operation would be a valuable tool to discover internal construction data. This information is necessary in the modelling and simulation of acoustic and electrical behaviour related to ultrasonic systems containing commercial transducers. There is not a general solution for this generic problem of parameter estimation in the case of broadband piezoelectric probes. In this paper, this general problem is briefly analysed for broadband conditions. The viability of application in this field of an artificial intelligence technique supported on the modelling of the transducer internal components is studied. A genetic algorithm (GA) procedure is presented and applied to the estimation of different parameters, related to two transducers which are working as pulsed transmitters. The efficiency of this GA technique is studied, considering the influence of the number and variation range of the estimated parameters. Estimation results are experimentally ratified.