Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation of the Performance of a Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Transducer by Finite Element Modeling

  • ACOUSTIC METHODS
  • Published:
Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The most popular transducers used in ultrasonic testing are piezoelectric transducers. The three major components of a piezoelectric transducer are the crystal, backing material, and matching layer. Traditionally, the optimal combination of these components is either found by trial and error or by using simple analytical models. These procedures make it difficult or even impossible to find the cause of poor performance or deficiencies in manufactured transducers. Finite element modeling is an alternative method that can be used for designing optimal piezoelectric transducers while avoiding limitations set forth by one-dimensional analytical models. In this paper, the effects of various parameters on the performance of a piezoelectric transducer are investigated by finite element simulations and experimental measurements. The aim is implementation of a design tool for optimizing the performance of a custom-made ultrasonic transducer. The complete transducer structure, including the piezoelectric disk, backing material, and matching layer are modeled in both transmit and receive modes. In most of the previous finite element models, either distributed force or distributed displacement is applied to the nodes to simulate the effect of the piezoelectric crystal. However, in this paper, actual piezoelectric elements are used to generate ultrasonic waves. Consequently, the input to this model is an electrical pulse, and the output is an electrical voltage. This is exactly like what we have in real world. Therefore, the performance of this model is exactly the same as a real piezoelectric transducer. The results show that undesired echoes can be eliminated by increasing the attenuation of the backing material. Moreover, for matching layer impedances less than 5 MRayl, with an increase in impedance value, both the transducer bandwidth and the echo amplitude increase. For matching layer impedances higher than 5 MRayl, the frequency spectrum is double-humped, and detection of flaws is less accurate. Experimental measurements conducted on an in-house built transducer are found to be in good agreement with simulation results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 14.
Fig. 15.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Kim, K., Hsu, D., Ahn, B., Kim, Y., and Barnard, D., Fabrication and comparison of PMN-PT single crystal, PZT and PZT-based 1-3 composite ultrasonic transducers for NDE applications, Ultrasonics, 2010, vol. 50, pp. 790–797.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mason, W. P., Electromechanical Transducers and Wave Filters, New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1948 3rd ed.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Krimholtz, R., Leedom, D. A., and Matthaei, G. L., New equivalent circuits for elementary piezoelectric transducers, Electron. Lett., 1970, vol. 6, pp. 398–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kossoff, G., The effects of backing and matching on the performance of piezoelectric ceramic transducers, IEEE Trans. Sonics Ultrason., 1966, vol. 13, pp. 20–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Desilets, C.S., Fraser, J.D., and Kino, G.S., The design of efficient broad-band piezoelectric transducers, IEEE Trans. Sonics Ultrason., 1978, vol. 25, pp. 115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lerch, R., Finite element analysis of piezoelectric transducers, IEEE Int. Ultrason. Symp. (Chicago, 1988), pp. 643–654.

  7. Tiersten, H.F., Hamilton’s principle for linear piezoelectric media, Proc. IEEE, 1967, vol. 55, pp. 1523–1524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. EerNisse, E.P., Variational method for electro elastic vibration analysis, IEEE Trans. Sonics Ultrason., 1967, vol. 14, pp. 153–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Allik, H. and Hughes, T. J. R., Finite element method for piezoelectric vibration, Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng., 1970, vol. 2, pp. 151–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Allik, H., Webman, K. M., and Hunt, J.T., Vibrational response of sonar transducers using piezoelectric finite elements, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1974, vol. 56, pp. 1782–1791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Naillon, M., Coursant, R.H., and Besnier, F., Analysis of piezoelectric structures by a finite-element method, Acta Electron., 1983, vol. 25, pp. 341–362.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ostergaard, D.F. and Pawlak, T.P., Three-dimensional finite elements for analyzing piezoelectric structures, IEEE Int. Ultrason. Symp. (Williamsburg, 1986), pp. 639–644.

  13. Lerch, R., Simulation of piezoelectric devices by two-and three-dimensional finite elements, IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control, vol. 37, pp. 233–247.

  14. Abboud, N.N., Wojcik, G.L., Vaughan, D.K., Mould J., Jr, Powell, D.J., and Nikodym, L., Finite element modeling for ultrasonic transducers, Ultrason. Transducer Eng. Conf. (1998), pp. 19–42.

  15. Wang, J.S. and Ostergaard, D.F., A finite element-electric circuit coupled simulation method for piezoelectric transducer, IEEE Ultrason. Symp. (1999), pp. 1105–1108.

  16. Kervel, S. and Thijssen, J., A calculation scheme for the optimum design of ultrasonic transducers, Ultrasonics, 1983, vol. 21, pp. 134–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Persson, H. and Hertz, C., Acoustic impedance matching of medical ultrasound transducers, Ultrasonics, 1985, vol. 23, pp. 83–89.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Richter, P., Millner, R., Holzer, F., Leitgeb, N., and Wach, P., Design, construction and experimental investigation of ultrasonic pulse transducers with different bandwidths, Ultrasonics, 1987, vol. 25, pp. 229–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wu, L. and Chen, Y., PSPICE approach for designing the ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer for medical diagnostic applications, Sens. Actuators, A, 1999, vol. 75, pp. 186–198.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ali, M., Analysis of broadband piezoelectric transducers by discrete time model, Egypt. J. Solids, 2000, vol. 23, pp. 287–295.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ramadas, S., O’Leary, R., and Gachagan, A., Ultrasonic sensor design for NDE application: Design challenges and considerations, Proc. Natl. Semin. Exhib. Nondestr. Eval. (2009), pp. 10–12.

  22. Chen, Y., Acoustical transmission line model for ultrasonic transducers for wide-bandwidth application, Acta Mech. Solida Sinica, 2010, vol. 23, pp. 124–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Konovalov, S. I. and Kuz’menko, A. G., The efficiency of a broadband piezoelectric transducer with allowance for losses in the piezoceramic and matching-layer materials, Russ. J. Nondestr. Test., 2013, vol. 49, pp. 67–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Martynenko, A. V., An immersion piezoelectric transducer with advanced characteristics, Russ. J. Nondestr. Test., 2015, vol. 51, pp. 457–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Konovalov, R. S., Konovalov, S. I. and Kuz’menko, A. G., Influence of the design features of a piezoelectric transducer on probing signal duration, Russ. J. Nondestr. Test., 2018, vol. 54, pp. 546–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Danilov, V. N., Application of quarter-wavelength matching wear plates in normal transducers, Russ. J. Nondestr. Test., 2018, vol. 44, pp. 351–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gao, C., Xiao, D., Pan, Q., and Xu, C., Ultrasonic transducers frequency response study with equivalent circuit and finite element method, Mechatronics Automat. (ICMA) (2011), pp. 1746–1750.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Qian, Y. and Harris, N., Modelling of a novel high-impedance matching layer for high frequency (> 30MHz) ultrasonic transducers, Ultrasonics, 2014, vol. 54, pp. 586–591.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Fu, L., Gao, Y., and Wu, D., The matching layer design of borehole wall ultrasonic imaging logging transducer, Symp. Piezoelectr. Acoust. Waves Device Appl. (Xi’an, 2016), pp.331—334.

  30. Cobbold, R.S.C., Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Meitzler, A., Tiersten, H. F., Warner, A. W., Berlincourt, D., Couqin, G. A., and Welsh III, F.S., IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity, Stand. Comm. IEEE Ultrasonics Ferroelectr. Freq. Control Soc., p. 66.

  32. Sayers, C. M. and Tait, C. E., Ultrasonic properties of transducer backings, Ultrasonics, 1984, vol. 22, pp. 57–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Brown, L. F., The effects of material selection for backing and wear protection/quarter-wave matching of piezoelectric polymer ultrasound transducers, IEEE Ultrason. Symp. (2000), pp. 1029–1032.

  34. Collin, R., Theory and design of wide-band multi section quarter-wave transformers, Proc. IRE, 1955, vol. 43, pp. 179–185.

  35. Schmerr, L. and Song, J.-S., Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation Systems: Models and Measurements, Berlin: Springer, 2007.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  36. Medina, M., Buiochi, F., and Adamowski, J.C., Numerical modeling of a circular piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer radiating water, ABCM Symp. Series Mechatronics (2006), pp. 458–464.

  37. Bray, D.E. and Stanley, R.K., Nondestructive Evaluation: a Tool in Design, Manufacturing and Service, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NDE Lab, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mostafa Rafienezhad-Masouleh & Farhang Honarvar

Authors
  1. Mostafa Rafienezhad-Masouleh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Farhang Honarvar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farhang Honarvar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mostafa Rafienezhad-Masouleh, Honarvar, F. Investigation of the Performance of a Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Transducer by Finite Element Modeling. Russ J Nondestruct Test 57, 269–280 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830921040094

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830921040094

Keywords:

Search

Navigation