A frequency selective acoustic transducer for directional Lamb wave sensing

A frequency selective acoustic transducer (FSAT) is proposed for directional sensing of guided waves. The considered FSAT design is characterized by a spiral configuration in wavenumber domain, which leads to a spatial arrangement of the sensing material producing output signals whose dominant frequency component is uniquely associated with the direction of incoming waves. The resulting spiral FSAT can be employed both for directional sensing and generation of guided waves, without relying on phasing and control of a large number of channels. The analytical expression of the shape of the spiral FSAT is obtained through the theoretical formulation for continuously distributed active material as part of a shaped piezoelectric device. Testing is performed by forming a discrete array through the points of the measurement grid of a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer. The discrete array approximates the continuous spiral FSAT geometry, and provides the flexibility to test several configurations. The experimental results demonstrate the strong frequency dependent directionality of the spiral FSAT and suggest its application for frequency selective acoustic sensors, to be employed for the localization of broadband acoustic events, or for the directional generation of Lamb waves for active interrogation of structural health.     

Lamb wave sensors array for nonviscous liquid sensing

The interdigital transducer (IDT) can excite Lamb wave in a piezoelectric plate loading with a liquid layer, and the phase velocity of Lamb wave is associated with the properties of the liquid layer. In this paper, the concept of effective permittivity is introduced to study the Lamb wave’s potential application in liquid sensing. Considering the measuring of ideal nonviscous liquid, the sensors array is designed to sense the density and the dielectric constant of the liquid layer simultaneously. Using LiNbO₃ as piezoelectric material, in order to improve the sensors array sensitivity and the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient, the optimized results including plate thicknesses and cut orientations are presented by numerical simulation. These studies show that the Lamb wave sensors array can be potential in liquid sensing.     

Acoustic-electromagnetic slow waves in a periodical defective piezoelectric slab

Coupled slow waves, slow acoustic waves, and electromagnetic waves are simultaneously achieved based on a piezoelectric material, in which a line defect is created within a honeycomb lattice array of cylindrical holes etched in a LiNbO_3 slab. Finite element simulations in frequency domain and time domain demonstrate that a highly localized slow mode is obtained in the defect. Owing to the piezoelectricity of LiNbO_3, acoustic and electromagnetic waves are coupled with each other and transmit along the line defect. Therefore, in addition to a slow acoustic wave, an electromagnetic wave with a group velocity even lower than conventional acoustic waves is achieved.     

Active fiber composites for the generation of Lamb waves

Active fiber composites (AFC) are thin and conformable transducer elements with orthotropic material properties, since they are made of one layer of piezoelectric ceramic fibers. They are suitable for applications in structural health monitoring systems (SHM) with acoustic non-destructive testing methods (NDT). In the presented work the transfer behavior of an AFC as an emitter of transient elastic waves in plate-like structures is investigated. The wave field emitted by an AFC surface bonded on an isotropic plate was simulated with the finite-difference method. The model includes the piezoelectric element and the plate and allows the simulation of the elastic wave propagation. For comparison with the model experiments using a laser interferometer for non-contact measurements of particle velocities at different points around the AFC on the surface of the plate were performed. Transfer functions defined as the ratio of the electric voltage excitation signal and the resulting surface velocity at a specific point are separately determined for the two fundamental Lamb wave modes. In order to take the orthotropic behavior of the AFC into account the transfer functions are determined for several points around the AFC. Results show that the AFC is capable to excite the fundamental symmetric and antisymmetric Lamb wave mode. The antisymmetric mode is mainly radiated in the direction of the piezoelectric fibers, while the symmetric mode is spread over a larger angle. The amplitudes of the emitted waves depend on the frequency of the excitation as well as on the geometric dimensions of the transducer.     

Characteristics of fundamental acoustic wave modes in thin piezoelectric plates

The characteristics of the three lowest order plate waves (A(0), S(0), and SH(0)) propagating in piezoelectric plates whose thickness h is much less than the acoustic wavelength lambda are theoretically analyzed. It is found that these waves can provide much higher values of electromechanical coupling coefficient K(2) and lower values of temperature coefficient of delay (TCD) than is possible with surface acoustic waves (SAWs). For example, in 30Y-X lithium niobate, the SH(0) mode has K(2)=0.46 and TCD=55 ppm/degrees C. The corresponding values for SAW in the widely used, strong coupling material of 128Y-X lithium niobate are K(2)=0.053 and TCD=75 ppm/degrees C. Another important advantage of plate waves is that, unlike the case of SAWs, they can operate satisfactorily in contact with a liquid medium, thus making possible their use in liquid phase sensors.     

Acoustic waves in structure "piezoelectric plate-polymeric nanocomposite film"

Paper is devoted to the investigation of SH(0) acoustic waves propagating in structure "piezoelectric plate-polymeric nanocomposite film". The analysis was carried out by the example of the polymeric nanocomposite film based on high-pressure polyethylene with various contents of CdS nanoparticles and lithium tantalate and lithium niobate plate. The resonant attenuation of investigated waves for the certain ratios of plate and film thicknesses was found. The obtained results open the prospects of the development of structures for SH(0) waves consisting of nanocomposite polymeric substrates and thin piezoelectric plates. Such structures may be useful for development of various thermostable chemical and biological sensors and signal processing devices.     

水声工程中基于均匀圆阵列的涡旋声波性能分析*

声波作为信息和能量的载体,一直以来在水下通信中被广泛采用,但尚未解决带宽窄、速率低的问题。在光学领域和电磁波领域,轨道角动量都表征了螺旋相位结构的自然属性;通过引入轨道角动量到声学领域中,水声通信系统的传输能力以及频谱效率都得到扩展。基于换能器圆阵列产生涡旋声波进行分析和检测,研究涡旋声波波束的阵列产生方法,给出涡旋声波波束在水下传播的特性。在主轴方向,采用均匀圆阵列产生不同拓扑模式的涡旋声波波束,确定轨道角动量拓扑模式与换能器阵列之间的对应关系;为生成不同拓扑模式下的涡旋声波,研究阵列单元数目、阵列半径、传输频率等对涡旋声波的影响。通过研究发现模式数越高,涡旋声波主瓣波束角越大,主瓣峰值越小。阵列半径越大,主瓣波束角越大,而主瓣峰值则随着阵列半径的增大而减小;频率越高,主瓣波束角越小,主瓣峰值变化不大;阵列单元数对主瓣波束角无影响,但与主瓣峰值成正比关系,阵列单元数越多,主瓣峰值越大。     

Reflection of normal acoustic waves in thin plates from a grating with a periodically distributed mechanical load

Reflection of zero-order normal acoustic waves excited in a thin piezoelectric plate from a set of conducting strips of a finite thickness is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The analysis shows that the effects produced by the short-circuiting of the plate surface and by the elastic load on the impedance ratio of adjacent plate segments are in opposition to each other. These effects can be commensurable, and, hence, for each wave type, there is a certain value of the strip thickness at which the reflection coefficient becomes equal to zero. The experimental results obtained for a shear horizontal normal wave (an SH ₀ wave) propagating in a lithium niobate plate are in good agreement with the theory and justify the use of the equivalent-circuit model in analyzing the properties of reflectors of the type under study.     

Numerical analysis of the properties of slit electroacoustic waves

The properties of slit electroacoustic waves that propagate in a system of two semi-infinite piezoelectric media separated by a vacuum gap, in a system consisting of a thin piezoelectric plate and a semi-infinite piezoelectric medium separated by a gap, and in a system consisting of two thin piezoelectric plates separated by a vacuum gap are studied. The process of transformation of slit electroacoustic waves to generalized surface acoustic waves or to Lamb waves is considered.     

Hybridization of acoustic waves in piezoelectric plates

The interaction (hybridization) of different types of acoustic waves of zero and higher orders propagating in lithium niobate piezoelectric plates is theoretically investigated. Different crystallographic orientations of the plates and different directions of wave propagation in them are considered. It is shown that, for an electrically free plate with the propagation direction along any of the crystallographic axes, the dispersion curves have intersection points and hybridization is absent. However, when the propagation direction slightly changes or when one of the plate surfaces is short-circuited, the dispersion curves separate and the waves become coupled. A quantitative coefficient characterizing the degree of wave hybridization with allowance for both mechanical and electric coupling is introduced. It is shown that the dependence of this coefficient on the product of the plate thickness by the wave frequency determines the extent of separation of the dispersion curves of interacting waves. The phenomenon under study is of both fundamental and practical interest, for example, in connection with the problem of an efficient excitation of nonpiezoactive acoustic waves in piezoelectric plates.     

Laser generation of narrow-band and directed ultrasound

An aluminium hemicylindrical sample has been irradiated with an array of laser lines, with each line acting as a source of acoustic waves. Detection of the generated ultrasonic waves was performed using both a wide-band stabilized Michelson interferometer and a 20 MHz piezoelectric transducer. Experimental and theoretical results are presented which reveal that the use of a spatially modulated laser source produces significant narrow-banding of the detected ultrasound, compared with a single point or single line source case. Additionally, for a given line spacing, ultrasound of a particular frequency can be directed. Owing to the nature of the acoustic signals generated by each individual array element, superposition of several signals does not result in any energy directivity similar to that encountered in phase electromagnetic array antennas. While time or frequency feature enhancement may be obtained in a desired direction, in most cases the far field energy directivity pattern is simply the incoherent sum of the energy directivity of each array element.     

Shear horizontal acoustic waves at the boundary of two piezoelectric crystals separated by a liquid layer

Transverse acoustic waves that occur at the boundary of two piezoelectric halfspaces separated by a viscoelastic liquid layer are studied theoretically. Three variants of layered structures with different numbers of metallized interfaces are considered. It is demonstrated that two types of waves exist in each of these structures. The waves are localized near the boundaries and differ in both their structure and the dependences of the complex wave numbers on the frequency or the gap width. The properties of this family of shear horizontal waves are described.     

Time delay temperature behaviour of surface acoustic waves propagation on crystal substrate

A method is described for the computation of the time delay temperature behaviour for surface acoustic waves propagated in a surface layer of piezoelectric crystals. The linear field equations for small vibration superposed on thermally induced deformation were employed in the determination of the time delay temperature behaviour. The computed time delay temperature dependence of the surface acoustic waves propagated in the digonal axis direction on the ZX-cut quartz plate is given as an example.     

The effect of initial stress on the propagation behavior of SH waves in piezoelectric coupled plates

This study analytically investigates the propagation of shear waves (SH waves) in a coupled plate consisting of a piezoelectric layer and an elastic layer with initial stress. The piezoelectric material is polarized in z-axis direction and perfectly bonded to an elastic layer. The mechanical displacement and electrical potential function are derived for the piezoelectric coupled plates by solving the electromechanical field equations. The effects of the thickness ratio and the initial stress on the dispersion relations and the phase and group velocities are obtained for electrically open and mechanically free situations. The numerical examples are provided to illustrate graphically the variations of the phase and group velocities versus the wave number for the different layers comparatively. It is seen that the phase velocity of SH waves decreases with the increase of the magnitude of the initial compression stress, while it increases with the increase of the magnitude of the initial tensile stress. The initial stress has a great effect on the propagation of SH waves with the decrease of the thickness ratio. This research is theoretically useful for the design of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with high performance.     

QCM based sensor for detecting volumetric properties of liquids

We introduce a microacoustic sensor, which combines the quartz crystal microbalance, a liquid-filled cavity and an intermediate artificial layer with effective acoustic properties. Each of the three components fulfils a specific task. The quartz vibrates in its thickness shear mode and acts as source and detector of shear waves, which penetrate the intermediate artificial layer and excite a resonance in the liquid-filled cavity. Both the piezoelectric transducer and the liquid-filled cavity are high-Q resonators with well-adjusted resonance frequencies very close to each other. The intermediate artificial layer couples the two resonators in a distinct manner via control of the propagation of acoustic waves between the quartz crystal and the liquid-filled cavity layer. The origin of the sensor signal is a change of the resonance frequency of the liquid-filled cavity caused by variations of acoustic properties of the liquid analyte inside the cavity, first of all speed of sound. This resonance appears as second resonance peak in the admittance spectrum of the quartz crystal.     

On the existence of localized shear horizontal acoustic waves in a piezoelectric plate with two semi-infinite same/different coatings

In this paper, the existence theorem of localized shear horizontal acoustic waves in a piezoelectric plate with two semi-infinite same/different coatings is established. Some properties of the waves in the waveguide structures are also discussed. The results show that the waveguides have some advantages and provide more choice for the designs of acoustic devices.     

一种基于模态域波束形成的水平阵被动目标深度估计

水面水下目标分辨与识别一直是被动声呐探测领域的难题.利用一种水平阵模态域波束形成算法获得己知方位目标声源的各阶模态强度,将其与不同深度的各阶参考模态强度进行匹配,最终实现了对声源的深度估计.仿真结果表明,该算法可以在信噪比为-10 dB的情况下,用300Hz带宽的信号样本,实现对声源深度的有效估计.系统分析了不同参数和不同波导条件对该方法目标深度估计性能的影响.其中,阵元数越多,模态样本数越多,计算频段越宽,方位估计精度越高,有效阵长越长,深度估计的性能越好.阵元间距和波导深度的变化不会影响该方法的深度估计性能,并且该方法的深度估计性能在声速剖面、海底参数等波导条件存在扰动时具有鲁棒性.     

Calculation of acoustic energy trapping in resonators based on isotropic and nanoceramic materials

The problem of acoustic energy trapping in a microwave resonator structure operating on the basis of acoustic waves and containing a relatively thick nanoceramic plate, which has a piezoelectric film with electrodes on its surface, is solved. For a composite resonator structure made on the basis of isotropic substrates and nanoceramics, formulas are derived that allow one to choose the thicknesses of its layers to obtain a high Q factor at a desired frequency.     

Love waves in functionally graded piezoelectric materials by stiffness matrix method

A numerical matrix method relative to the propagation of ultrasonic guided waves in functionally graded piezoelectric heterostructure is given in order to make a comparative study with the respective performances of analytical methods proposed in literature. The preliminary obtained results show a good agreement, however numerical approach has the advantage of conceptual simplicity and flexibility brought about by the stiffness matrix method. The propagation behaviour of Love waves in a functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) is investigated in this article. It involves a thin FGPM layer bonded perfectly to an elastic substrate. The inhomogeneous FGPM heterostructure has been stratified along the depth direction, hence each state can be considered as homogeneous and the ordinary differential equation method is applied. The obtained solutions are used to study the effect of an exponential gradient applied to physical properties. Such numerical approach allows applying different gradient variation for mechanical and electrical properties. For this case, the obtained results reveal opposite effects. The dispersive curves and phase velocities of the Love wave propagation in the layered piezoelectric film are obtained for electrical open and short cases on the free surface, respectively. The effect of gradient coefficients on coupled electromechanical factor, on the stress fields, the electrical potential and the mechanical displacement are discussed, respectively. Illustration is achieved on the well known heterostructure PZT-5H/SiO₂, the obtained results are especially useful in the design of high-performance acoustic surface devices and accurately prediction of the Love wave propagation behaviour.     

一种用于变压器局部放电在线监测的光纤声发射传感器实验研究

提出了一种光纤声发射传感器并构建传感系统实现变压器局部放电在线监测,利用传感光栅体积小,重量轻,灵敏度高和抗电磁干扰的特点,将传感器置于变压器内部实现局部放电声发射信号的测量。研究了传感光栅实现声发射应力波测量的机理,声发射信号引起传感光栅反射光谱发生漂移,导致特定频点处反射光强发生变化,通过反射光强的变化实现声发射信号的测量。构建声发射传感系统实验模型并提出了一种系统性能优化策略,使系统工作在传感光栅反射光谱上升或下降沿的半峰值频点处,从而保障传感系统具有良好的线性输出特性;研究传感系统工作点稳定技术,设计信号反馈回路自动跟踪反射光谱的漂移,保证系统稳定工作在传感光栅半峰值频点处,消除温度变化对传感系统测量精度的影响。将封装好的传感器用于变压器局部放电现场检测,结果表明,光纤光栅声发射传感器与压电传感器相比具有灵敏度高、动态范围宽等优点,可以实现变压器局部放电在线监测。