A new omnidirectional shear horizontal wave transducer using face-shear (d24) piezoelectric ring array

Hongchen Miao; Qiang Huan; Qiangzhong Wang; Faxin Li

doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2016.10.011

A new omnidirectional shear horizontal wave transducer using face-shear (d₂₄) piezoelectric ring array

Ultrasonics. 2017 Feb:74:167-173. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2016.10.011. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

Authors

Hongchen Miao¹, Qiang Huan², Qiangzhong Wang², Faxin Li³

Affiliations

¹ LTCS and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
² LTCS and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
³ LTCS and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: lifaxin@pku.edu.cn.

PMID: 27816871
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2016.10.011

Abstract

The non-dispersive fundamental shear horizontal (SH₀) wave in plate-like structures is of practical importance in non-destructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM). Theoretically, an omnidirectional SH₀ transducer phased array system can be used to inspect defects in a large plate in the similar manner to the phased array transducers used in medical B-scan ultrasonics. However, very few omnidirectional SH₀ transducers have been proposed so far. In this work, an omnidirectional SH₀ wave piezoelectric transducer (OSH-PT) was proposed, which consists of a ring array of twelve face-shear (d₂₄) trapezoidal PZT elements. Each PZT element can produce face-shear deformation under applied voltage, resulting in circumferential shear deformation in the OSH-PT and omnidirectional SH₀ waves in the hosting plate. Both finite element simulations and experiments were conducted to examine the performance of the proposed OSH-PT. Experimental testing shows that the OSH-PT exhibits good omnidirectional properties, no matter it is used as a SH₀ wave transmitter or a SH₀ wave receiver. This work may greatly promote the applications of SH₀ waves in NDT and SHM.

Keywords: Face-shear piezoelectrics; Guided waves; Non-destructive testing (NDT); Shear horizontal waves; Structural health monitoring (SHM).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't