Preparation and Properties of 1-3 Piezoelectric Composite Transducers

Abstract

This study demonstrated the preparation of 1-3 piezoelectric composite transducers by using 1-3 piezoelectric composites as the active phases, air as the backing layer and polyurethane as the matching layer. The composite electrode was produced by electroless nickel coating and the effect of the matching layer on transducer performance was investigated in detail. The results showed that the matching layer could improve the receiving sensitivity of the transducer significantly. The receiving response value of the transducer at first increased and then decreased with the increase of the matching layer thickness. This receiving response had the largest head-wave amplitude value when the thickness of the matching layer was about 2.2 mm, which was in good agreement with the theoretical value. The resonance frequency of the transducer in water showed a tendency of low frequencies, and the bandwidth of the transducer in water became much wider than that in air. The reasonable matching layer could improve performance of the transducer effectively.