Porous piezoelectric ceramics of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3, (P-PZT), have been newly developed to apply to transducers in an echo sounder. The P-PZT was prepared from a mixture of PZT and poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) powders. The piezoelectric characteristics of the P-PZT such as the dielectric constant (ε), voltage output constant (g constant), acoustic impedance (Z
c) and Q were evaluated. The P-PZT was employed in an echo sounder of 200 kHz, and its transmitting and receiving properties were measured in water. In these measurements, the P-PZT showed suitable characteristics for the echo sounder, which required high sensitivity, wide frequency bandwidth and high resolution. High sensitivity was realized by the large g constant and low Z
c of P-PZT which made the impedance matching with water much easier. In the acoustic response to the burst wave, the rise and fall time were shortened to 1/3 that of the conventional PZT transducer.
The experimental evaluation of cylindrical ceramic tubes composed of porous PZT ceramics is reported. They exhibit 5.5 dB higher electroacoustic sensitivity and 20% lower resonant frequency than those composed of conventional PZT ceramics.
The 9×3 array transducer composed of porous ceramics is fabricated and the acoustic sensitivity is measured. A low Q value of 7.5 is obtained in the longitudinal vibration mode.
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