Investigation on the Design of Piezoelectric Actuator/Sensor for Damage Detection in Beam with Lamb Waves

Piezoelectric wafer type actuator/sensor is widely used to generate and sense Lamb waves for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). However, multiple Lamb waves modes are generally excited with this type of transducer. As a result, there is some difficulty in using Lamb waves for damage detection. To selectively generate a single A₀/S₀ Lamb mode, the tuned excitation of Lamb waves has been studied by some researchers. This paper investigates the design of the PZT actuator/sensor bonded to beam-like structure for generating single A₀/S₀ Lamb mode. In the study it is found that some factors, including the bonding layer, the unknown material properties and dynamical characteristics of the beam, will influence the design of PZT actuator/sensor. Piezoelectric impedance technique is introduced to facilitate the design of PZT actuator/sensor. Crack detection in beam using the tuned A₀/S₀ Lamb waves is performed.