Nonlinearity in the dynamic response of flexural ultrasonic transducers

Feeney, A. , Kang, L. and Dixon, S. (2018) Nonlinearity in the dynamic response of flexural ultrasonic transducers. IEEE Sensors Letters, 2(1), 2500104. (doi: 10.1109/LSENS.2017.2779183)

Abstract

Recent studies of the electro-mechanical behavior of flexural ultrasonic transducers have shown that their response can be considered as three distinct characteristic regions, the first building towards a steady state, followed by oscillation at the driving frequency in the steady state, before an exponential decay from the steady state at the transducer's dominant resonance frequency, once the driving force is removed. Despite the widespread industrial use of these transducers as ultrasonic proximity sensors, there is little published information on their vibration characteristics under different operating conditions. Flexual transducers are composed of a piezoelectric ceramic disc bonded to the inner surface of a metallic cap, the membrane of which bends in response to the high-frequency ceramic vibrations of the ceramic. Piezoelectric devices can be subject to nonlinear behavior, but there is no reported detail of the nonlinearity in flexural transducers. Experimental investigation through laser Doppler vibrometry shows strong nonlinearity in the vibration response, where resonance frequency reduces with increasing vibration amplitude.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the EPSRC under Grant EP/N025393/1.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Feeney, Dr Andrew
• Authors: Feeney, A., Kang, L., and Dixon, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: IEEE Sensors Letters
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 2475-1472
• ISSN (Online): 2475-1472
• Published Online: 18 December 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Sensors Letters 2(1): 2500104
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy