The Seminar Report On

piezoelectric transducers

Presented By: Surti Snehal

Kapadia Arpeet

Shah Dharam

Jariwala Jenish

Agrawal Saket

Roll No: 04

08

09

25

62

Class: B.E.III (Electronics & Communication Engineering)

Semester: 5th semester

Year: 2010
 Sarvajanik College of Engineering & Technology
Dr R.K. Desai Road,

Athwalines, Surat - 395001,

India.

Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the paper entitled Smart Sensors is prepared &
presented by Arpeet Kapadia (08), Snehal Surti(04), Shah
Dharam(09), Jariwala Jenish(25), Agrawal Saket(62) of B.E. 3rd
Electronics & Communication Engineering In EMI.

Signature of Jury Members Signature of the Head of

Department,
 INDEX

 INTRODUCTION 03

 FEATURES & DIMENSIONS 04

 PIN DEFINITIONS 05

 ULTRASONIC TRANSMITTER & RECEIEVER CIRCUIT 06

 WORKING 07

 TEST DATA 09

 ADVANTAGES 10

 LIMITATIONS 11

 REFERENCES 12

 CONCLUSION 12
Introduction:

The conversion of electrical pulses to mechanical vibrations and the conversion of returned
mechanical vibrations back into electrical energy is the basis for ultrasonic testing. The active
element is the heart of the transducer as it converts the electrical energy to acoustic energy, and
vice versa. The active element is basically a piece of polarized material (i.e. some parts of the
molecule are positively charged, while other parts of the molecule are negatively charged) with
electrodes attached to two of its opposite faces. When an electric field is applied across the
material, the polarized molecules will align themselves with the electric field, resulting in
induced dipoles within the molecular or crystal structure of the material. This alignment of
molecules will cause the material to change dimensions. This phenomenon is known as
electrostriction. In addition, a permanently-polarized material such as quartz (SiO2) or barium
titanate (BaTiO3) will produce an electric field when the material changes dimensions as a result
of an imposed mechanical force. This phenomenon is known as the piezoelectric effect. The
transducers which are based on this effect are called piezoelectric transducers.

The active element of most acoustic transducers used today is a piezoelectric ceramic, which can
be cut in various ways to produce different wave modes. Preceding the advent of piezoelectric
ceramics in the early 1950's, piezoelectric crystals made from quartz crystals and
magnetostrictive materials were primarily used. The active element is still sometimes referred to
as the crystal by old timers in the NDT field. When piezoelectric ceramics were introduced, they
soon became the dominant material for transducers due to their good piezoelectric properties and
their ease of manufacture into a variety of shapes and sizes. They also operate at low voltage and
are usable up to about 300oC. The first piezoceramic in general use was barium titanate, and that
was followed during the 1960's by lead zirconate titanate compositions, which are now the most
commonly employed ceramic for making transducers. New materials such as piezo-polymers and
composites are also being used in some applications.

The thickness of the active element is determined by the desired frequency of the transducer. A
thin wafer element vibrates with a wavelength that is twice its thickness. Therefore, piezoelectric
crystals are cut to a thickness that is 1/2 the desired radiated wavelength. The higher the
frequency of the transducer, the thinner the active element. The primary reason that high
frequency contact transducers are not produced is because the element is very thin and too
fragile.
Principle of piezoelectric transducers:

Depending on how a piezoelectric material is cut, three main modes of operation can be
distinguished: transverse, longitudinal, and shear.

Transverse effect

A force is applied along a neutral axis (y) and the charges are generated along the (x)
direction, perpendicular to the line of force. The amount of charge depends on the
geometrical dimensions of the respective piezoelectric element. When dimensions a,b,c
apply,

Cx = dxyFyb / a,

where a is the dimension in line with the neutral axis, b is in line with the charge generating
axis and d is the corresponding piezoelectric coefficient.

Longitudinal effect

The amount of charge produced is strictly proportional to the applied force and is
independent of size and shape of the piezoelectric element. Using several elements that
are mechanically in series and electrically in parallel is the only way to increase the
charge output. The resulting charge is

Cx = dxxFxn,

where dxx is the piezoelectric coefficient for a charge in x-direction released by forces applied
along x-direction (in pC/N). Fx is the applied Force in x-direction [N] and n corresponds
to the number of stacked elements .

Shear effect

Again, the charges produced are strictly proportional to the applied forces and are
independent of the element’s size and shape. For n elements mechanically in series and
electrically in parallel the charge is

Cx = 2dxxFxn.

In contrast to the longitudinal and shear effects, the transverse effect opens the possibility to fine-
tune sensitivity on the force applied and the element dimension.
Materials used for the Piezoelectric Transducers:

There are various materials that exhibit piezoelectric effect as mentioned above. The materials
used for the measurement purpose should posses desirable properties like stability, high output,
insensitive to the extreme temperature and humidity and ability to be formed or machined into
any shape. But none of the materials exhibiting piezoelectric effect possesses all the properties.
Quartz, which is a natural crystal, is highly stable but the output obtained from it is very small. It
also offers the advantage of measuring very slowly varying parameter as they have very low
leakage when they are used with high input impedance amplifiers.

Due to its stability, quartz is used commonly in the piezoelectric transducers. It is usually cut into
rectangular or square plate shape and held between two electrodes. The crystal is connected to
the appropriate electronic circuit to obtain sufficient output

Characteristics:

The transducer is a very important part of the ultrasonic instrumentation system. The transducer
incorporates a piezoelectric element, which converts electrical signals into mechanical vibrations
(transmit mode) and mechanical vibrations into electrical signals (receive mode). Many factors,
including material, mechanical and electrical construction, and the external mechanical and
electrical load conditions, influence the behavior of a transducer. Mechanical construction
includes parameters such as the radiation surface area, mechanical damping, housing, connector
type and other variables of physical construction. Because of this, transducer manufacturers are
hard pressed when constructing two transducers that have identical performance characteristics.

A cut away of a typical contact transducer is shown above. It was previously learned that the
piezoelectric element is cut to 1/2 the desired wavelength. To get as much energy out of the
transducer as possible, an impedance matching is placed between the active element and the face
of the transducer. Optimal impedance matching is achieved by sizing the matching layer so that
its thickness is 1/4 of the desired wavelength. This keeps waves that were reflected within the
matching layer in phase when they exit the layer (as illustrated in the image to the right). For
contact transducers, the matching layer is made from a material that has an acoustical impedance
between the active element and steel. Immersion transducers have a matching layer with an
acoustical impedance between the active element and water. Contact transducers also incorporate
a wear plate to protect the matching layer and active element from scratching.

The backing material supporting the crystal has a great influence on the damping characteristics
of a transducer. Using a backing material with an impedance similar to that of the active element
will produce the most effective damping. Such a transducer will have a wider bandwidth
resulting in higher sensitivity. As the mismatch in impedance between the active element and the
backing material increases, material penetration increases but transducer sensitivity is reduced.

Frequency response:

For use as a sensor, the flat region of the frequency response plot is typically used, between the
high-pass cutoff and the resonant peak. The load and leakage resistance need to be large enough
that low frequencies of interest are not lost. A simplified equivalent circuit model can be used in
this region, in which Cs represents the capacitance of the sensor surface itself, determined by the
standard formula for capacitance of parallel plates. It can also be modeled as a charge source in
parallel with the source capacitance, with the charge directly proportional to the applied force, as
above.

It is also important to understand the concept of bandwidth, or range of frequencies, associated

with a transducer. The frequency noted on a transducer is the central or center frequency and
depends primarily on the backing material. Highly damped transducers will respond to
frequencies above and below the central frequency. The broad frequency range provides a
transducer with high resolving power. Less damped transducers will exhibit a narrower
frequency range and poorer resolving power, but greater penetration. The central frequency will
also define the capabilities of a transducer. Lower frequencies (0.5MHz-2.25MHz) provide
greater energy and penetration in a material, while high frequency crystals (15.0MHz-25.0MHz)
provide reduced penetration but greater sensitivity to small discontinuities. High frequency
transducers, when used with the proper instrumentation, can improve flaw resolution and
thickness measurement capabilities dramatically. Broadband transducers with frequencies up to
150 MHz are commercially available.
Advantages of Piezoelectric Transducers

Every devise has certain advantages and limitations. The piezoelectric transducers offer several
advantages as mentioned below:

1) High frequency response: They offer very high frequency response that means the parameter
changing at very high speeds can be sensed easily.

2) High transient response: The piezoelectric transducers can detect the events of microseconds
and also give the linear output.

3) High output: They offer high output that be measured in the electronic circuit.

4) The piezoelectric transducers are small in size and have rugged construction.

Limitations of Piezoelectric Transducers

Some of the limitations of piezoelectric transducers are:

1) Output is low: The output obtained from the piezoelectric transducers is low, so external
electronic circuit has to be connected.

2) High impedance: The piezoelectric crystals have high impedance so they have to be connected
to the amplifier and the auxiliary circuit, which have the potential to cause errors in
measurement. To reduce these errors amplifiers high input impedance and long cables should be
used.

3) forming into shape: It is very difficult to give the desired shape to the crystals with sufficient
strength.
Applications of the Piezoelectric Transducers

1) The piezoelectric transducers are more useful for the dynamic measurements, i.e. the
parameters that are changing at the fast rate. This is because the potential developed under the
static conditions is not held by the instrument. Thus piezoelectric crystals are primarily used
measurement of quantities like surface roughness, and also in accelerometers and vibration
pickups.

2) For the same reasons they can be used for studying high speed phenomenon like explosions
and blast waves. They are also used in aerodynamic shock tube work and seismograph (used for
measurement of acceleration and vibration in rockets).

3) Many times the piezo sensors or transducers are used along with the strain gauges for
measurement of force, stress, vibrations, etc.

4) The automotive companies used piezoelectric transducers to detect detonations in the engine
blocks.

5) Piezoelectric transducers are used in medical treatment, sonochemistry and industrial

processing equipments for monitoring the power.
Reference:

1) Book: Mechanical and Industrial Measurements by R. K. Jain, Khanna Publishers

2) Mechanical Measurements by Thomas G. Beckwith and N. Lewis Buck

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity.