Design optimization of a Class VII Flextensional Transducer

Class VII Flextensional Transducers (FTs) have been proposed as a means of overcoming the limitation of very high prestress in Class IV FTs. These transducers are made from shells shaped like dog bone and hence are also known as dog-bone shell transducers. In this work, we report design optimization of a low frequency aluminum shell Class VII FT, resonating at 2.5 kHz, using piezoelectric drive. Two and three dimensional Finite Element Modeling (FEM), with the help of a commercially available package ATILA have been used for the design optimization. Dimensional details of the base model have been adapted from previous literature. Parametric analyses have been done with respect to various aspects like type of rubber, shell height, shell material, etc. in order to optimize the design. Experimental results obtained from an initial prototype are also presented. The results match fairly well with the predicted values.     

Author index to 2014

<正>~~     

DETERMINATION OF QUADRICEPS FORCES IN SQUAT AND ITS APPLICATION IN CONTACT PRESSURE ANALYSIS OF KNEE JOINT

While the quadriceps muscles of human body are quite important to the daily activities of knee joints,the determination of quadriceps forces poses significant challenges since it cannot be measured in ...     

Optical Mechanotransduction with Carbazole‐Based Luminescent Liquid Single‐Crystal Elastomers

Carbazole‐based liquid single‐crystal elastomers (LSCEs) are valuable fluorescent flexible materials to perform optical mechanotransduction under ambient conditions. Indeed, the covalent incorporation of carbazole derivatives into nematic LSCEs allows to tune their luminescence on demand under mechanical control in a quick and reversible fashion. Specifically, the fluorescence intensity for these materials can be switched back and forth in less than a second. Moreover, such a process can be performed several times without detecting any sign of fatigue in the system. In addition, these materials show excellent resistance to aging; 2 years after their preparation they exhibit the very same mechanofluorescent behavior as when freshly prepared. In fact, the here reported fluorescent systems are highly sensitive; the application of a force of 70 mN decreases the fluorescence in the elastomeric material by 7%. Thus, mechanical forces are attractive external stimuli to modulate the fluorescence of nematic elastomers rapidly and reversibly enabling thereby mechanotransduction.

     

Evaluation of the piezoelectric behaviour produced by a thick-film transducer using digital speckle pattern interferometry

This paper presents an interferometric measurement of the out-of-plane deflections produced by a piezoelectric transducer, manufactured by thick-film deposition of a ceramic paste over an alumina substrate, when is subjected to a DC electric voltage. It is shown that a digital speckle pattern interferometer with an incorporated phase-shifting facility allows the measurement of nanometer displacements generated by the piezoelectric device. These measurements are used to evaluate the effective piezoelectric charge constant along the polarization direction (d₃₃)_eff that characterizes the thick-film transducer.     

Broadband dielectric characterization of piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride)thin films between 278 K and 308 K

This work describes the dielectric properties of piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) thin films in the frequency and temperature ranges relevant for usual applications. We measured the isothermal dielectric relaxation spectra of commercial piezoelectric PVDF thin films between 10 Hz to 10 MHz, at several temperatures from 278 K to 308 K. Measurements were made for samples in mechanically free and clamped conditions, in the direction of the poling field (perpendicular to the film). We found that the imaginary part of the dielectric relaxation spectra of free and clamped PVDF samples is dominated by a peak, above 100 kHz, that can be characterized by a Havriliak-Negami function. The characteristic time follows an Arrhenius dependence on temperature. Moreover, the spectra of the free PVDF samples show two additional peaks at low frequencies which are associated with mechanical relaxation processes. Our results are important for the characterization of piezoelectric PVDF, particularly after the stretching and poling processes in thin films, and for the design and characterization of a broad range of ultrasonic transducers.     

Lead Sensor Using Gold Nanostructured Screen‐Printed Carbon Electrodes as Transducers

Gold nanostructured screen‐printed carbon electrodes are demonstrated to be suitable transducers for the determination of lead using square‐wave voltammetry. Reproducible gold nanostructures have been obtained by direct electrochemical deposition. A calibration plot from 2.5 to 250 μg/L was obtained in acidic solutions of Pb(II) with a reproducibility of 4% (n=10). The detection limit was 0.09 μg/L of lead. The method is then applied to perform a blood lead analysis by adjusting square‐wave parameters in capillary or venous blood with a minimum sample pretreatment and excellent accuracy and reproducibility.     

Microfabrication of stacks of acoustic matching layers for 15 MHz ultrasonic transducers

This paper presents a novel method used to manufacture stacks of multiple matching layers for 15 MHz piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers, using fabrication technology derived from the MEMS industry. The acoustic matching layers were made on a silicon wafer substrate using micromachining techniques, i.e., lithography and etch, to design silicon and polymer layers with the desired acoustic properties. Two matching layer configurations were tested: a double layer structure consisting of a silicon–polymer composite and polymer and a triple layer structure consisting of silicon, composite, and polymer. The composite is a biphase material of silicon and polymer in 2-2 connectivity. The matching layers were manufactured by anisotropic wet etch of a (1 1 0)-oriented Silicon-on-Insulator wafer. The wafer was etched by KOH 40 wt%, to form 83 μm deep and 4.5 mm long trenches that were subsequently filled with Spurr’s epoxy, which has acoustic impedance 2.4 MRayl. This resulted in a stack of three layers: The silicon substrate, a silicon–polymer composite intermediate layer, and a polymer layer on the top. The stacks were bonded to PZT disks to form acoustic transducers and the acoustic performance of the fabricated transducers was tested in a pulse-echo setup, where center frequency, −6 dB relative bandwidth and insertion loss were measured. The transducer with two matching layers was measured to have a relative bandwidth of 70%, two-way insertion loss 18.4 dB and pulse length 196 ns. The transducers with three matching layers had fractional bandwidths from 90% to 93%, two-way insertion loss ranging from 18.3 to 25.4 dB, and pulse lengths 326 and 446 ns. The long pulse lengths of the transducers with three matching layers were attributed to ripple in the passband.     

An ultrasonic transducer transient compensator design based on a simplified Variable Structure Control algorithm

A non-linear control method, known as Variable Structure Control (VSC), is employed to reduce the duration of ultrasonic (US) transducer transients. A physically realizable system using a simplified form of the VSC algorithm is proposed for standard piezoelectric transducers and simulated. Results indicate a VSC-controlled transmitter reduces the transient duration to less than a carrier wave cycle. Applications include high capacity ultrasound communication and localization systems.     

The application of laser reflective tomography in near-field measurements of ultrasonic transducers

With Laser Reflective Tomography（LRT）,the near fields of ultrasonic transducers were measured and analyzed.The principle of LRT measurement of ultrasonic field distribution was introduced and an experimental system was set up.Acoustic pressure of a multiple element piston transducer was measured by using of a laser vibrometer.Its distribution in amplitude and phase was obtained.The acoustic pressure in the same region was measured with a needle hydrophone to validate the LRT method.Furthermore,through reconstruction of acoustic fields,it indicated that LRT method is suitable for predicting the distribution on transducers＇surface and conditions of active elements.