Piezoelectric Transducer Sensor Research Articles

Relating Hydro‐Mechanical and Elastodynamic Properties of Dynamically Stressed Tensile‐Fractured Rock in Relation to Applied Normal Stress, Fracture Aperture, and Contact Area

AbstractWe exploit nonlinear elastodynamic properties of fractured rock to probe the micro‐scale mechanics of fractures and understand the relation between fluid transport and fracture aperture under dynamic stressing. Experiments were conducted on rough, tensile‐fractured Westerly granite subject to triaxial stresses. We measure fracture permeability for steady‐state fluid flow with deionized water. Pore pressure oscillations are applied at amplitudes ranging from 0.2 to 1 MPa at 1 Hz frequency. During dynamic stressing we transmit ultrasonic signals through the fracture using an array of piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) to monitor evolution of interface properties. We examine the influence of fracture aperture and contact area by conducting measurements at effective normal stresses of 10–20 MPa. Additionally, the evolution of contact area with stress is characterized using pressure sensitive film. These experiments are conducted separately with the same fracture and map contact area at stresses from 9 to 21 MPa. The measurements are a proxy for “true” contact area for the fracture surface and we relate them to elastic properties using the calculated PZT sensor footprints via numerical modeling of Fresnel zones. We compare the elastodynamic response of the fracture using the stress‐induced changes in ultrasonic wave velocities for transmitter‐receiver pairs to image spatial variations in contact properties. We show that nonlinear elasticity and permeability enhancement decrease with increasing normal stress. Additionally, post‐oscillation wave velocity and permeability exhibit quick recoveries toward pre‐oscillation values. Estimates of fracture contact area (global and local) demonstrate that the elastodynamic and permeability responses are dominated by fracture topology.

Numerical and experimental study on monitoring coal cracks with PZT sensor

The rupture of coal pillar can lead to spontaneous combustion or collapse of goaf, which endangers the safety of workers. To explore the relationship between the crack depth of the coal structure and the signal received by the piezoelectric ceramic sensor, the output data of coal samples were analyzed by using the piezoelectric effect, combined with the experiment and ABAQUS simulation. Based on the signal amplitude, the output signal characteristics of the coal model with different crack depths were analyzed, and the evaluation index of coal crack cracking degree (Dc) was defined. The results show that the piezoelectric fluctuation method can effectively identify the local cracks of coal. When the distance between the lead Piezoelectric Transducer (PZT) patch and crack position is constant, the amplitude of the PZT patch output signal will decay with the deepening of the crack depth, while the value of increases with the increase of crack depth. This study provides a theoretical basis for mine disaster prevention and control.

Digitalized Global Impact Localization for Complex Composites Based on Wireless PZT Sensor Network

Various impact monitoring systems have been proposed based on wireless sensor network (WSN) in the past decades. However, most of the research only concentrated on the developments of wireless sensor nodes instead of networks. For real aircraft applications, WSN-based impact monitoring with multiple nodes is necessary for large-scale structures. Under this situation, WSN-based globe impact localization algorithm is an important issue to be addressed, yet few reports can be found so far. Meanwhile, real aircraft composites usually have complex styles that can degrade the performance of monitoring algorithms, which is vital for successful applications. Hence, in this article, a global impact localization method with a large-scale Bluetooth-based piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor network is proposed. Two impact localization algorithms are comprehensively researched and evaluated on a complex aircraft panel structure. Furthermore, a real aircraft wing box structure with multiple nodes is adopted for an overall evaluation of the network. Satisfying results are achieved.

Ultra-High SNR Demodulation Method for Optical Fiber Sensors Applied in Power Transformer Partial Discharge Detection

The demodulation method of optical fiber sensors utilized in power transformer partial discharge (PD) detection is insufficient for engineering applications. We design a distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL) PD detection system with an asymmetric 3 × 3 coupler and propose an ultra-high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) demodulation scheme by eliminating the main factors that affect the traditional method using an asymmetric 3 × 3 coupler. The power transformer PD detection results reveal that the proposed scheme is free from 3 × 3 coupler asymmetry issues, with an average SNR of 38.30 dB, which is much higher than the widely used demodulation method and the piezoelectric transducer sensor. The average SNR of the system is increased by 24.2 dB with the proposed method.

DFB-FL Applied in the Liquid-Solid Composite Dielectric for Ultra-High Sensitive Partial Discharge Acoustic Emission Detection

The traditional fiber optic acoustic emission (AE) sensor, used to detect the partial discharge (PD) in the liquid-solid composite dielectric such as oil-immersed transformers, is not satisfactory in engineering applications due to the limitation of sensitivity and sensor size. This work proposes that the distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL), benefiting from its tiny size and ultra-high sensitivity, is a better choice for PD AE detection. We build the PD AE detection system using erbium-ytterbium co-doped (Er-Yb-co-doped) DFB-FL, with suitable photoelectric components to design the demodulation system and intensity noise of DFB-FL as an index. Noise analysis shows that the average noise amplitude of the system is reduced by 91.67% after digital filtering technology and pump laser power regulation technology. We also use an 80 kVA oil-immersed transformer winding structure to construct a liquid-solid composite dielectric PD AE detection platform. Moreover, experiment results in different pump power show that the DFB-FL PD AE detection system can effectively detect the PD AE signal in the environment with sizeable acoustic impedance. The peak-to-peak value of its response is 31.36 times larger than the background noise and 637% higher than piezoelectric transducer sensors (PZT).

Digital Ultrasonic Sensing Device with Programmable Frequency: Development and Analysis

Ultrasonic wave is widely used in Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) systems. A piezoelectric transducer (PZT) is one of the most widely used sensors to acquire the structure's ultrasonic wave. As today's world is digital, it is necessary to digitize the traditional analog PZT sensing system. This paper describes the development and analysis of a digital ultrasonic sensing device (DUSD) for PZT sensors. We removed the complexities of the analog circuit by interfacing the microcontroller directly with the charge amplifier circuit. The microcontroller used in this research is a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 with in-built FPU (Floating Point Unit) and DSP (Digital signal processing) instructions. These features make it possible to compute complex signal processing algorithms and methods in the controller itself. The developed sensing device can communicate with the user and other devices using Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART). The user can select cut-off frequencies of both high pass filters (HPF) and low pass filters (LPF) as well as types of data (ultrasonic waves, damage index) that the user wishes to collect from the device. To illustrate the proficiencies of the device, the ultrasonic wave was collected and evaluated to detect the damage in the test specimen.

Large dynamic-range fiber Bragg grating sensor system for acoustic emission detection.

A distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser and fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are configured to demodulate the wavelength shifts of FBG dynamic strain sensors. The FBG sensors act as sensing units to detect the dynamic strain and the demodulators while the DFB fiber laser only acts as a narrow-linewidth light source. As the reflective spectrum of the FBG sensor changes due to dynamic strains, the output is subsequently converted into a corresponding intensity change and detected directly by a photodetector. The 0.2 nm linewidth FBG sensor can detect the impact signal with a frequency of up to 300 kHz with a maximum of 29.17 µɛ, which is comparable with the detecting result of the piezoelectric transducer sensor. Moreover, the directional response of the FBG sensor is maximized when the direction of acoustic wave propagation is parallel to the optical fiber. The relation between the sensitivity and the FBG spectrum linewidth is presented, and the detectable strain range versus different FBG linewidths is also discussed.

Intelligent Wireless Ultrasonic Device for Damage Detection of Metallic Structures

In today’s world, it is necessary to monitor structures for possible damages. A failure to monitor the structures properly can cause structural catastrophe. Many researchers have worked on the low-power ultrasonic device to monitor the structures. In this research, we present an intelligent ultrasonic device (IUD) to monitor and detect the damages on the structures. The device uses microcontroller, actuator interface circuit, sensor interface circuit and radio frequency (RF) modem. The microcontroller has in-built high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and floating-point unit for signal processing. The controller generates the tone-burst signal and sends it to actuator interface circuit. The actuator interface circuit conditions the received signal from the microcontroller and drives the Piezoelectric Transducer (PZT) actuator. The actuator generates an ultrasonic wave in the structure. The wave is then sensed by PZT sensors. The sensor interface circuit selects the signal from desired PZT sensor and sends it to the microcontroller for further processing. The microcontroller digitizes the signal and computes the damage index and only if the damage is severe, it will send data wirelessly to the nearby PC. To test the device, iron specimen was prepared, PZT actuator and PZT sensor was mounted on it. The artificial crack was then induced on the specimen. The ultrasonic wave was then collected from the structure. By analyzing the ultrasonic wave, the device successfully detected the induced crack in the structure. The future work will be to use GSM modem so that the device can be monitored in the real time from the remote location.

Frequency Aliasing-Based Spatial-Wavenumber Filter for Online Damage Monitoring

The spatial-wavenumber filter method can extract the specific mode of the Lamb wave, thereby distinguishing the incident wave and the damage reflection wave. This method has been widely studied for damage imaging. However, the diameter of piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor limits the spatial sampling wavenumber of the linear PZT sensor array, which limits the application of this method because of the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem. Therefore, the wavenumber filtering range of spatial-wavenumber filter should be less than half of the spatial sampling wavenumber. In this paper, a frequency aliasing based spatial-wavenumber filter for online damage monitoring is proposed. In this method, the wavenumber filtering range is extended to the spatial sampling wavenumber, and two wavenumber results will be calculated as for the frequency aliasing. Subsequently, the wavenumber of the received Lamb wave signal can be obtained according to the average arrival time difference between the two adjacent sensors in the linear PZT sensor array. Finally, the damage is localized using the spatial-wavenumber filter and cruciform PZT sensor array. This method was validated on an epoxy laminate plate. The maximum damage localization errors are less than 2 cm. It is indicated that this method can extend the spatial-wavenumber filtering range to the spatial sampling wavenumber and the application of spatial-wavenumber filter-based online damage monitoring.

Response Bandwidth Design of Fabry-Perot Sensors for Partial Discharge Detection Based on Frequency Analysis

The insulation of power equipment can be effectively assessed by analyzing the acoustic signals originated from partial discharges (PD). Fabry-Perot (F-P) sensors are capable of detecting PD acoustic signals. Although the frequency bandwidth of an F-P sensor is mainly referred to conventional piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor, it is still doubtful to identify a suitable bandwidth for fiber sensors in detection of PD signals. To achieve a suitable bandwidth for an F-P sensor, the frequency distribution of PD acoustic emission is investigated, and an extrinsic F-P sensor is designed to detect acoustic signals generated from PD. F-P sensors with different intrinsic frequencies are fabricated as possible design standards of bandwidth for acoustic detection. PD acoustic signals are detected by these F-P sensors and PZT sensors in the experimental system, in which four typical electrode models are employed. The measured results of frequency performance are analyzed in linear and semilogarithmic coordinates. The results show that F-P sensors can effectively detect PD acoustic emissions in both wideband and narrowband modes. Moreover, F-P sensors achieve a higher sensitivity in the narrowband mode. We propose that intrinsic frequency of the F-P sensor should be designed in the frequency range of 100–170 kHz to obtain maximum sensitivity.

An Aircraft Pallet Damage Monitoring Method Based on Damage Subarea Identification and Probability-Based Diagnostic Imaging

To improve the safety and economy of aircraft pallet use, an aircraft pallet damage monitoring method based on damage subarea identification and probability-based diagnostic imaging is proposed. In the proposed method, first, the large aircraft pallet monitoring area is divided into rectangular subareas, and a piezoelectric transducer sensor is pasted on each vertex of the rectangular subarea that is used to excitation and sensing the Lamb wave. Second, the damage subarea is identified according to the diagonal damage indexes. Third, the damage position in the damage subarea is calculated using the probability-based diagnostic imaging method and coordinate probability weighted algorithm. Finally, the aircraft pallet damage can be localized based on the damage subarea position. Frequency selection and damage simulation study results show that the Lamb wave is sensitive to aircraft pallet damage whose centre frequency ranges from 50 kHz to 150 kHz, and the damage index of a steel ball is less than that of all real aircraft pallet damage from 95 kHz to 125 kHz. The verification results show that the proposed method can locate aircraft pallet damage with an error of less than 2 cm.

IMPLEMENTASI SENSOR MEMS AKSELEROMETER SEBAGAI ALAT PENGUKUR GETARAN PADA TURBIN ANGIN

Many techniques are available in the market to measure and analyze vibrations caused by rotating machines and the structure of the machine itself, but require expensive resources to identify the problem of damage. Generally these expensive equipment use conventional sensors such as eddy-current sensors, swing coil velocity sensors and piezoelectric transducer sensors to measure vibration. The implementation of a vibration measuring device in the form of an accelerometer sensor with a type of Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) and a signal processing unit (Arduino Mega microcontroller) is used to measure vibrations that occur in small-scale horizontal type wind turbine blades. Experiments were carried out to check the accelerometer's ability to detect vibration response on wind turbine blades with the free vibration position. Then the signal in the form of the time domain will be converted into the frequency domain to get the dominant frequency value of the turbine blade, which is then analyzed to be compared with the B & K VibroPort 80 vibration meter. The experimental results show that the MEMS type accelerometer sensor can be applied to measure the free vibration conditions on wind turbine blades with an error percentage below 6%.

A Lamb Wave Wavenumber-Searching Method for a Linear PZT Sensor Array.

In this paper, a wavenumber–searching method based on time-domain compensation is proposed to obtain the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal. In the proposed method, the time-domain sampling signal of the linear piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor array is converted into a spatial sampling signal using the searching wavenumber. The two–dimensional time-spatial-domain Lamb wave received signal of the linear PZT sensor array is then converted into a one-dimensional synthesized spatial sampling signal. Further, the sum of squared errors between the synthesized spatial sampling signal and its Morlet wavelet fitting signal is calculated at each searching wavenumber. Finally, the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal is obtained as the searching wavenumber corresponding to the minimum error. This method was validated on a 2024-T3 aluminum alloy. The validation results showed that the proposed method can successfully obtain the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal, whose spatial sampling rate does not satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem; the wavenumber error does not exceed 2.2 rad/m. Damage localization based on the proposed method was also validated on a carbon fiber composite laminate plate, and the maximum damage localization error was no more than 2.11 cm.

Integrated impedance and Lamb wave–based structural health monitoring strategy for long-term cycle-loaded composite structure

Impedance of a sensor is sensitivity to small structural damage which surrounds the sensor. Lamb wave propagation provides higher damage detection efficiency in the range of large area. Both methods have been widely developed for structural health monitoring. This article presents integrated impedance and Lamb wave–based structural health monitoring strategy for composite pressure vessels. The output of the presented structural health monitoring strategy includes distribution and classification of damage and health condition of sensor network under varying internal pressure loading environments. In the strategy, a novel damage index adjusting method for Lamb wave damage detection is developed based on the signal features of real and imaginary parts of the sensor impedance. First, the potential structural damage is pre-warned by monitoring the impedance variation of the piezoelectric transducer sensor network. Then, the health condition of sensor network under the working condition is assessed by impedance-based self-diagnosis method; subsequently, the Lamb wave damage index is adjusted based on the result of sensor self-diagnosis. Finally, on the basis of sensor self-diagnosis and damage index adjustment result, damage identification and classification are performed. Practical efficacy of the structural health monitoring approach is tested by the damage monitoring experiment on loaded composite structure.

An intelligent propagation distance estimation algorithm based on fundamental frequency energy distribution for periodic vibration localization

Earth surface vibrations generated by passing vehicles, excavation equipment, footsteps, etc., attract increasing attentions in the research community due to their wide applications. In this paper, we investigate the periodic vibration source localization problem, which has recently shown significance in excavation device detection and localization for urban underground pipeline network protection. An intelligent propagation distance estimation algorithm based on a novel fundamental frequency energy distribution (FBED) feature is developed for periodic vibration signal localization. Contributions of the paper lie in three aspects: 1) a novel frequency band energy distribution (FBED) feature is developed to characterize the property of vibrations at different propagation distances; 2) an intelligent propagation distance estimation model built on the FBED feature with machine learning algorithms is proposed, where for comparisons, the support vector machine (SVM) for regression and regularized extreme learning machine (RELM) are used; 3) a localization algorithm based on the distance-of-arrival (DisOA) estimation using three piezoelectric transducer sensors is given for source position estimation. To testify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, case studies on real collected periodic vibration signals generated by two electric hammers with different fundamental frequencies are presented in the paper. The transmission medium is the cement road and experiments on vibration signals recorded at different propagation distances are conducted.

Novel Damage Detection Techniques for Structural Health Monitoring Using a Hybrid Sensor

This study presents a technique for detecting fatigue cracks based on a hybrid sensor monitoring system consisting of a combination of intelligent coating monitoring (ICM) and piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensors. An experimental procedure using this hybrid sensor system was designed to monitor the cracks generated by fatigue testing in plate structures. A probability of detection (POD) model that quantifies the reliability of damage detection for a specific sensor or the nondestructive testing (NDT) method was used to evaluate the weight factor for the ICM and PZT sensors. To estimate the uncertainty of model parameters in this study, the Bayesian method was employed. Realistic data from fatigue testing was used to validate the overall method, and the results show that the novel damage detection technique using a hybrid sensor can quantify fatigue cracks more accurately than results obtained by conventional sensor methods.

Assessment of a New Piezoelectric Transducer Sensor for Noninvasive Cardiorespiratory Monitoring of Newborn Infants in the NICU

Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) and impedance pneumography (IPG), the most widely used techniques for cardiorespiratory monitoring in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), have the disadvantage of causing skin damage when used for very premature newborn infants. To prevent skin damage, we designed a new piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor. Objective: To assess the potential of the PZT sensor for cardiorespiratory monitoring in the NICU. Methods: The PZT sensor was placed under a folded towel under a neonate to detect an acoustic cardiorespiratory signal, from which heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR) were calculated, together with simultaneous ECG/IPG recording for 1–9 days for long and brief (1-min) assessment. Results: The brief assessment showed average correlation coefficients of 0.92 ± 0.12 and 0.95 ± 0.02 between instantaneous HRs/BRs detected by the PZT sensor and ECG/IPG in 27 and 11 neonates examined. During the long assessment, the HR detection rate by the PZT sensor was ∼10% lower than that by ECG (82.6 ± 12.9 vs. 91.8 ± 4.1%; p = 0.001, n = 27), although comparable (90.3 ± 4.1 vs. 92.5 ± 3.4%, p = 0.081) in ∼70% (18/27) of neonates examined; BR detection rate was comparable between the PZT sensor and IPG during relatively stable signal conditions (95.9 ± 4.0 vs. 95.3 ± 3.5%; p = 0.38, n = 11). The PZT sensor caused neither skin damage nor body movement increase in all neonates examined. Conclusion: The PZT sensor is noninvasive and does not cause skin irritation, and we believe it does provide a reliable, accurate cardiorespiratory monitoring tool for use in the NICU, although the issue of mechanical-ventilation noise remains to be solved.

Quantitative evaluation of ontogenetic change in heart rate and its autonomic regulation in newborn mice with the use of a noninvasive piezoelectric sensor

A reliable basal heart rate (HR) measurement in freely moving newborn mice was accomplished for the first time by using a novel noninvasive piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor. The basal HR was approximately 320 beats/min at postnatal day (P)0 and increased with age to approximately 690 beats/min at P14. Contribution of autonomic control to HR was then assessed. Sympathetic blockade with metoprolol significantly reduced basal HR at both P6 (-236 +/- 23 beats/min; mean +/- SE) and P12 (-105 +/- 8 beats/min), but atropine was without effect, indicating the predominant tonic adrenergic stimulation and absence of vagal control for basal HR in newborn mice. In contrast to stable basal HR during 5-min recording, HR measured by ECG (ECG-HR) was markedly decreased because of the restraint stress of attaching ECG electrodes, with accompanying freezing behavior. ECG-HR lowered and further decreased gradually during 5 min (slow cardiodeceleration) at P0-P3 and rapidly decreased and gradually recovered within 5 min (transient bradycardia) at P9-P14. The response was not uniform in P4-P8 mice: they showed either of these two patterns or sustained bradycardia (9-29%), and the number of mice that showed transient bradycardia increased with age (30-100%) during the period. Studies with autonomic blockade suggest that the slow cardiodeceleration and transient bradycardia are mediated mainly by withdrawal of adrenergic stimulation and phasic vagal activation, respectively, and the autonomic control of HR response to restraint stress is likely to change from the withdrawal of adrenergic stimulation to the phasic vagal activation at different stages during P4-P8 in individual mice. The PZT sensor may offer excellent opportunities to monitor basal HR of small animals noninvasively.

Real time robotic tactile sensor system for the determination of the physical properties of biomaterials

A novel tactile sensor system, specifically designed to detect and quantify in real time tissue characteristics in a manner analogous to the human hand, is presented. To date, no modality that is capable of detecting the hardness and/or softness of tissues has been developed. The emerging requirement to build smart robotic manipulation for the next generation of virtual systems, incorporating hand-like-tactile feedback, continues to challenge developers in biomedical instrumentation. To satisfy this need we present a novel sensor system, consisting of a combination of a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and a pressure sensor element. The system is designed with a feedback circuit, made with a disc-shaped PZT sensor element and a phase shift circuit acting as the oscillating circuit. Upon contact with a test object, this system responds to its physical properties by changing its resonance frequency in accordance with the object’s acoustic impedance. It is suggested that this sensor may prove useful in applications involving robotics in the biomedical field and can be incorporated in the next generation of virtual operating systems.