KLM model for lossy piezoelectric transducers

A KLM model has been developed using equivalent circuits to analyze the effects of different loss mechanisms on the transducer performance in the time and frequency domain. Transducers from two different piezoelectric materials (lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) and polyvinylidene fluoride) were constructed to validate our model. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical simulation.     

压电MEMS超声换能器研究进展

MEMS(micro-electromechanical systems)超声换能器(MEMS ultrasonic transducer,简称MUT)是采用微电子和微机械加工技术制作的新型超声换能器。与传统超声换能器相比,MUT具有体积小、重量轻、成本低、功耗低、可靠性高、频率控制灵活、频带宽、灵敏度高以及易于与电路集成和实现智能化等特点。是超声换能器的重要的研究方向之一。MUT的研究主要包括压电MUT(piezoelectric MUT,简称PMUT)和电容MUT(capacitiveMUT,简称CMUT)两个方面。本文概述了PMUT研究的发展进程和研究成果,展望了PMUT的研究和应用前景。     

Vibration characteristics of piezoelectric torsional transducers

The vibrational characteristics of Langevin-type torsional transducers, which consist of two piezoelectric torsional disks and two elastic blocks, are studied theoretically and experimentally in this paper. The differential equations of piezoelectric torsional motions are derived in terms of the circumferential displacement and the electric potential. Solutions of the boundary-value problem yield the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the transducers, and the natural frequencies are verified by comparing the numerical results with the experimental ones. The theoretical results enable one to quantitatively predict the effect of the elastic blocks on the reduction of the natural frequencies of a Langevin-type torsional transducer.     

压电圆管换能器振动特性的薄壳理论分析

本文运用弹性力学中的薄壳理论，分析了径向极化压电陶瓷圆管换能器的振动特性，并在此基础上推导出换能器等效电路的特性阻抗，为换能器的设计提供了依据。分析及计算结果表明，本文的理论与以往常用的薄膜理论相比，不仅在物理模型的描述上更为完整准确，在计算精度上也更接近实际。     

Radial vibration characteristics of spherical piezoelectric transducers

This paper presents the vibration characteristics of the radial mode in spherical piezoelectric transducers. The differential equations of piezoelectric radial motion have been derived in terms of radial displacement and electric potential. Applying mechanical and electrical boundary conditions yielded a characteristic equation for radial vibration. Theoretical calculations of the fundamental natural frequency have been compared with numerical and experimental results for transducers of several sizes, and have shown a good agreement. This paper discusses the dependence of natural frequencies on the radius and thickness of the piezoelectric spheres and the difference between piezoelectric and elastic resonances. From the results it has been concluded that the natural frequency was not affected for the first radial mode but was reduced by the piezoelectric phenomenon. It has also been concluded that the natural frequency of the first radial mode depended mostly on the radius rather than on the thickness of the sphere whereas the natural frequency of the second radial mode depended mostly on the thickness rather than the radius.     

Modeling of functionally graded piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers

The application of functionally graded material (FGM) concept to piezoelectric transducers allows the design of composite transducers without interfaces, due to the continuous change of property values. Thus, large improvements can be achieved, as reduction of stress concentration, increasing of bonding strength, and bandwidth. This work proposes to design and to model FGM piezoelectric transducers and to compare their performance with non-FGM ones. Analytical and finite element (FE) modeling of FGM piezoelectric transducers radiating a plane pressure wave in fluid medium are developed and their results are compared. The ANSYS software is used for the FE modeling. The analytical model is based on FGM-equivalent acoustic transmission-line model, which is implemented using MATLAB software. Two cases are considered: (i) the transducer emits a pressure wave in water and it is composed of a graded piezoceramic disk, and backing and matching layers made of homogeneous materials; (ii) the transducer has no backing and matching layer; in this case, no external load is simulated. Time and frequency pressure responses are obtained through a transient analysis. The material properties are graded along thickness direction. Linear and exponential gradation functions are implemented to illustrate the influence of gradation on the transducer pressure response, electrical impedance, and resonance frequencies.     

Broadband multimode baffled piezoelectric cylindrical shell transducers

Hollow piezoelectric cylindrical shell transducers may be made directional for underwater acoustic applications by the use of suitable acoustical baffles and the operational bandwidth may be extended by using multiple resonant modes. A theoretical and experimental investigation was performed for circumferentially baffled piezoelectric cylindrical shell transducers operating in the zero and one modes of extensional vibration. The frequency responses and directivity patterns were analyzed under various conditions of energizing separate halves of electrodes. It was found that the broadest frequency response with nearly constant beamwidth can be obtained when the two halves of the piezoelectric ring are electromechanically excited 90 deg out-of-phase. The experimental results obtained with a proof-of-concept transducer were in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

A programmable pulse generator for piezoelectric multielement transducers

A pulse generator for multielement ultrasonic transducers has been developed with digital control of pulse timing and firing. It can optimize matching to the probe characteristics, and can consequently maximize the amplitude of the received echo.     

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.     

The energy method for analyzing the piezoelectric electroacoustic transducers

The energy method of calculating the properties of piezoelectric electroacoustic transducers is considered. The Lagrangian of an electroacoustic transducer as a system performing multiple energy conversions is introduced. The Euler equations describing operation of a transducer with many mechanical degrees of freedom are derived from the least action principle. The corresponding multicontour equivalent circuit of the transducer is introduced. For the particular case of a transducer having one mechanical degree of freedom the governing equations are obtained by applying the Energy Conservation Law, and equivalent circuit with one mechanical branch also introduced. Application of the energy method is illustrated with examples of the pulsating spherical transducer as the one degree of freedom system and the multimode cylindrical transducer comprised of circular rings as the system with multiple degrees of freedom. Advantages of the method for application with electroacoustic transducers are summarized.     

Time-domain analyses of acoustics-structure interactions for piezoelectric transducers.

Piezoelectric transducers coupled with a surrounding medium are analyzed in time domain using the coupled finite element and boundary element method. Three-dimensional solid elements are employed to model the piezoelectric transducer, while the surrounding medium is described by the boundary integral equation and the boundary of the medium is modeled by two-dimensional spatial elements. Verification studies were conducted to evaluate the accuracy and convergence of the present numerical algorithm and they show that the present numerical solutions agree well with the analytical ones. The influence of the surrounding medium on the acoustic field is studied. The interaction between the structure and surrounding medium affects the structure dynamic performances and acoustic pressure distributions significantly. However, in the present study we show that the radiation directivity is insignificantly influenced by the surrounding medium.     

Characterization of multilayered piezoelectric ceramics for high power transducers

In some circumstances, large vibrational displacements at ultrasonic frequency must be generated using a low voltage drive. This result cannot be obtained with monolithic PZT ceramics which require voltages larger than 1000 V to produce displacements of the micrometer order at resonance. The use of multilayered hard lead zirconate titanate ceramics as transduction material in resonant devices is experimentally investigated for Langevin-type transducers. Large amplitudes are obtained under low drive (5 microm under 10 V). Material constant (compliance, losses) variations under large dynamic stress are, at least, one order of magnitude larger than for monolithic ceramics. Depolarization is found to be a critical issue when the transducer is driven continuously. It is demonstrated that this problem can be solved by polishing the interfaces between different parts of the device and applying an electrical DC bias to the transducer.     

Full-wave modeling of piezoelectric transducers for SAW acousto-optical interactions

In this paper we present an accurate and efficient numerical method for a rigorous full-wave analysis of interdigital transducers (IDT) for the excitation of surface acoustic waves on the piezoelectric substrate of acousto-optical devices. The problem is formulated in terms of an integral equation that is solved by the method of moments. The transducer input admittance and the power coupling factors to both surface and bulk waves are computed. Numerical results for some configurations of X-Y LiNbO₃ IDT for acousto-optic applications are in very good agreement with measured data. It is pointed out that bulk wave excitation may be a serious limitation in the design of efficient, wide band transducers for acousto-optical devices.     

New piezoelectric polymer for air-borne and water-borne sound transducers

Acoustic transducers made of a charged cellular polymer called EMFi have been designed and investigated with respect to air-borne and water-borne sound. The longitudinal transducer constant is around 90 pC/N, strongly exceeding the values of other piezoelectric polymers. This is mainly attributed to the very low Young's modulus of about 2 MPa. The acoustic impedance is only 2.6 x 10(4) kg/(m2 s) and results in good matching to air but strong loading under water. Due to this strong loading, a pronounced reduction of resonance frequency from 300 kHz in air down to 17 kHz under water is observed. The experiments indicate that fluid loading is not only mass-like but also compliant, reducing the transducer's sensitivity below the resonance frequency of about -63 dB re 1 V/Pa (0.7 mV/Pa) in air to -71 dB re 1 V/Pa under water. This compliance is attributed to the medium's compressibility. Piezoelectricity of EMFi films is limited to temperatures below 70 degrees C; above, irreversible discharge of trapped charges takes place. Furthermore, a second type of EMFi, called "OS" was investigated, having a piezoelectric constant of 15 pC/N and a Young's modulus of 6 MPa. In quasi-static sensor measurements, the piezoelectric constant increases with the applied load. This nonlinearity explains the higher values reported in other publications on the same materials.     

Active-passive vibration absorber of beam-cart-seesaw system with piezoelectric transducers

In contrast with fully controllable systems, a super articulated mechanical system (SAMS) is a controlled underactuated mechanical system in which the dimensions of the configuration space exceed the dimensions of the control input space. The objectives of the research are to develop a novel SAMS model which is called beam-cart-seesaw system, and renovate a novel approach for achieving a high performance active-passive piezoelectric vibration absorber for such system. The system consists of two mobile carts, which are coupled via rack and pinion mechanics to two parallel tracks mounted on pneumatic rodless cylinders. One cart carries an elastic beam, and the other cart acts as a counterbalance. One adjustable counterweight mass is also installed underneath the seesaw to serve as a passive damping mechanism to absorb impact and shock energy. The motion and control of a Bernoulli-Euler beam subjected to the modified cart/seesaw system are analyzed first. Moreover, gray relational grade is utilized to investigate the sensitivity of tuning the active proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller to achieve desired vibration suppression performance. Consequently, it is shown that the active-passive vibration absorber can not only provide passive damping, but can also enhance the active action authority. The proposed software/hardware platform can also be profitable for the standardization of laboratory equipment, as well as for the development of entertainment tools.     

Micromachined ultrasonic transducers and arrays based on piezoelectric thick film

This paper reports on the design, fabrication, and characterization of diaphragm-type piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) and arrays. A combination of piezoelectric composite thick film techniques and silicon micromachining has been proven to be a promising approach for a batch production of pMUTs, especially pMUT transmitter arrays for ultrasound radiation. In this paper, some important issues related to the pMUT element design and micromachining processes are addressed. Thanks to the well-developed processing technology, pMUTs and arrays operating at different resonance frequencies by dimension variation have been successfully fabricated with a high yield for possible mass manufacturing. The characterization of piezoelectric composite thick film will be briefly reported. The performance of the prototype devices has been characterized in terms of vibration modes, dependency of the resonance frequency on bias voltage, nonlinearity, electromechanical coupling efficiency, equivalent circuit, output sound pressure level and directivity of a two-dimensional pMUT array. PACS 85.50.-n; 85.85.+j     

Modeling of piezoelectric transducers with combined pseudospectral and finite-difference methods

A new hybrid finite-difference (FD) and pseudospectral (PS) method adapted to the modeling of piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) is presented. The time-dependent equations of propagation are solved using the PS method while the electric field induced in the piezoelectric material is determined through a FD representation. The purpose of this combination is to keep the advantages of both methods in one model: the adaptability of FD representation to model piezoelectric elements with various geometries and materials, and the low number of nodes per wavelength required by the PS method. This approach is implemented to obtain an accurate algorithm to simulate the propagation of acoustic waves over large distances, directly coupled to the calculation of the electric field created inside the piezoelectric material, which is difficult with classical algorithms. These operations are computed using variables located on spatially and temporally staggered grids, which attenuate Gibbs phenomenon and increase the algorithm's accuracy. The two-dimensional modeling of a PZT plate excited by a 50 MHz sinusoidal electrical signal is performed. The results are successfully compared to those obtained using the finite-element (FE) algorithm of ATILA software with configurations spatially and temporally adapted to the FE requirements. The cost efficiency of the FD-PS time-domain method is quantified and verified.     

The performance of thick piezoelectric transducers as wide-band ultrasonic detectors

A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser has been used to generate reproducible acoustic displacements in metallic samples. The acoustic waveforms were initially detected by an absolute displacement-sensitive, capacitance transducer. The capacitance transducer was then replaced in turn by two piezoelectric ceramic transducers of different thickness and diameter. Comparison of waveforms from the two types of detector indicate that thick piezoelectric transducers are useful in the detection of fast rise-time displacement waveforms at metal surfaces. Their performance is optimized by making them as thick as possible, with a small area of contact with the surface.     

径向复合压电陶瓷超声换能器的径向振动特性研究

对径向复合压电陶瓷超声换能器的径向振动特性进行了分析。该换能器由一个厚度极化的压电陶瓷实心圆盘和一个金属圆环在半径方向复合而成。论文首先研究了压电陶瓷圆盘及金属圆环的径向振动,推出了其径向振动的机电等效电路。在此基础上,利用换能器的径向边界条件,得出了径向复合压电陶瓷换能器的机电等效电路及其共振频率方程。探讨了换能器的共振频率和有效机电耦合系数与其几何尺寸之间的依赖关系。设计并实际制作了一些径向复合超声换能器,对其径向共振及反共振频率进行了测试,并利用有限元法进行了数值模拟。研究表明,利用文中理论得出的换能器的共振频率与实测值及数值模拟结果基本符合。