Radial Vibration Characteristics of Piezoelectric Ceramic Composite Ultrasonic Transducer

Abstract

Different from the existing equivalent circuit analysis method of the transducer, based on the vibration theory of the mechanical system and combined with the constitutive equation, this paper analyzes the radial vibration characteristics of the transducer. The piezoelectric ceramic composite ultrasonic transducer is simplified as a mechanical model of a composite thick wall tube composed of a piezoelectric ceramic tube and a metal prestressed tube. The mathematical model of radial vibration of the transducer is established, which consists of the wave equation of radial coupling vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic tube and the metal prestressed tube, the continuity conditions, and the boundary conditions of radial vibration of composite thick wall tube. The characteristic equation and the mode function of radial vibration are derived. The calculated results of natural frequency are in good agreement with the existing experimental results. Based on the analytical method and the difference method, the numerical simulation models of radial vibration are established, and the amplitude-frequency characteristic curves and the displacement responses are given. The simulation results show that the amplitude-frequency characteristic curves and the displacement responses of the two methods are the same, which verifies the correctness of simulation results. Through the simulation analysis, the influence rule of the transducer’s structure sizes on its radial vibration natural frequency is given: when the thickness of the metal prestressed tube and the piezoelectric ceramic tube are constant, the natural frequency decreases with the increase of the inner diameter of the piezoelectric ceramic tube; when the outer diameter of the metal prestressed tube and the inner diameter of the piezoelectric ceramic tube are constant, the natural frequency decreases with the increase of the thickness-to-wall ratio. The calculation method of natural frequency based on elastic vibration theory is clear in concept and simple in calculation, and the simulation models can analyze the mechanical vibration of the transducer.

An ultrasonic in-line inspection data processing method considering invalid data caused by sensor failure

“…Ultrasonic in-line inspection is a nondestructive testing (NDT) method by generating high-frequency and shortwavelength ultrasonic pulses. There are acoustic differences between pipeline materials and defects [8,9]. The size and shape of pipeline defects can be judged by observing reflected wave characteristics [10].…”