A lattice model of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer

Abstract

Abstmct-The development of a new three-port model of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer, employing linear systems theory, is presented. A discrete bidirectional lattice is used to describe mechanical wave propagation and continuous transfer functions to represent the electrical parameters. When presented in block-diagram format, an extremely valuable insight is gained into the nature of piezoelectric interaction. The lattice concept is extended to the analysis of multilayered structures and, when implemented in the discrete time domain, close agreement with experimental data is obtained. A number of experimental and simulation results are included for comparison. I. INTRODUCTION ONVENTIONAL models of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer invariably utilize transmissionline analogs in which the electromechanical properties of the system are evaluated by means of electrical network concepts. Examples of this include the equivalent circuits of Mason [l] and the more recent KLM [2] model, which uses a center-tapped transmission line to model acoustic wave propagation. In this form both models are also readily adapted for the analysis of multilayered transducer structures. However, electrical analogs possess some disadvantages which limit their flexibility when applied to piezoelectric transducer modelling [3]. Physical insight into the nature of the transduction process is often masked, and as a'result the influence of external electrical and mechanical load conditions on transducer behaviour is difficult to determine. To overcome this, an alternative strategy has been proposed by Hayward [3] who adopted a systems feedback approach to