Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10690553 | Ultrasonics | 2014 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
An air-coupled ultrasonic transducer is created by bonding a bulk piezoelectric element onto the surface of a thick plate with a wedge of power-law profile. The wedge is used to improve the ultrasonic radiation efficiency. The power-law profile provides a smooth, impedance-matching transition for the mechanical energy to be transferred from the thick plate to the air, through the large-amplitude flexural waves observed in the thinnest region of the wedge. The performance of the proposed transducer is examined numerically and compared to that of a design where the piezoelectric element is isolated and where it is affixed to a thin plate of uniform thickness. The numerical analysis is first focused on the free-field radiation of the transducers. Then, time-reversal experiments are simulated by placing the transducers inside a cavity of arbitrary shape with some perfectly reflecting boundaries. In addition to time-reversal mirrors, the proposed concept could be integrated in the design of phased arrays and parametric arrays.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Acoustics and Ultrasonics
Authors
Marcel C. Remillieux, Brian E. Anderson, Pierre-Yves Le Bas, T.J. Ulrich,