Fabrication of Piezoelectric Ceramic / Polymer Composite Transducers using Fused Deposition of Ceramics

Abstract

The fused deposition of ceramics (FDC) technique was used to fabricate piezoelectric ceramic skeletons for the development of piezoelectric composite transducers with 2-2 connectivity for medical imaging. The green parts were designed to have 30 vol% lead zirconate titanate ceramic (PZT-5H) in the final composites. Physical characterization of the sintered samples revealed that 96% of the theoretical density was achieved. Optical microscopy showed that defects due to the FDC mode of deposition, such as small roads and bubbles, were eliminated, because of improvements in powder processing. The electromechanical properties of the final composites were similar to the properties that were obtained for conventionally made composites. A matching layer and a backing layer, as well as wires and an inductor, were added to each FDC composite to fabricate a functional medical imaging transducer. The devices were tested in water using a steel target 3.5 cm thick. Echoes from the target could be detected with all the transducers that were fabricated using FDC. The sensitivities of the transducers were similar to that of a commercial transducer. However, the ringing was much longer than that for a commercial transducer, because the backing layer was not optimized in the transducers that were fabricated using FDC.

3D fine scale ceramic components formed by ink-jet prototyping process

“…By a simple modification of the file, it becomes possible to change the configuration of the component; therefore, these methods are specifically appropriate to generate 3D complex ceramic structures without expensive tooling for prototypes or even for small productions. The prototyping techniques developed up to now for ceramic parts such as the stereolithography, [12][13][14][15][16] the fused deposition modeling 17,18 and the selective laser sintering 19 are characterized by definition around 150 m, and do not allow to deposit different materials on the same layer. In comparison, ink-jet printing prototyping process opens the way to the development of multifunctional 3D fine scale ceramic parts.…”

Dispositif de déposition de couches de suspensions de céramiques appliqué à la stéréolithographie

“…Bien qu'ayant été présenté pour l'étalement de suspensions de céramiques piézoélectriques lors d'une fabrication par stéréolithographie, ce dispositif peut être adapté à d'autres techniques de prototypage rapide et à d'autres photomatéri-aux présentant des propriétés rhéologiques approchantes de celles du système étudié (Lous, 2000).…”

Lead-free piezoelectric materials and ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging

“…For a double matching layer design, the appropriate acoustic impedance for the first and second layer can be calculated through following equations 36,[71][72][73] :…”