Measurement insights and error analysis of electronic parameters for ultrasonic transducers

Abstract

Abstract Piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers with the function of energy conversation, as well as their numerous advantages in high-power density, quick response, flexible design, and service reliability, are involved in wide applications of industrial processing, precision driving, smart sensing, and medical services. The electromechanical equivalent circuit and Kirchhoff’s law indicate that mechatronics parameters are essential for performance evaluation, reliability analysis, and fault diagnosis of ultrasonic transducers. Importantly, the ultrasonic transducer is a time-variant system, data of one single parameter collected from a certain test cannot match with the data of another single parameter acquired from a different test. So, a synchronous and precise online measurement of electronic parameters is encouraged for performance evaluation and optimization design of ultrasonic transducers. With the combination of virtual instrument technology, an asynchronous measurement system of electrical excitation parameters for the ultrasonic transducers of linear driving motors was established in this study. Furthermore, the systematic measurement methods and error theory were illustrated, including the calculation methods and measuring circuits of electric signals. Experimental results proved that the proposed system and methods for measuring the input electronic power of ultrasonic transducer (e.g. effective value method for voltage and current, energy moment method for frequency, and spectrum analysis method for phase difference) are highly precise, quickly responsive, robust, and reliable for ultrasonic transducers. The findings of this study provide valuable references and suggestions for efficient, accurate, and online performance evaluation of ultrasonic transducers, particularly for piezoelectric transducers utilizing ultrasonic high-voltage exciting signals.