Design of 1-3 piezocomposite hydrophones using finite elementanalysis

摘要

The 1-3 piezocomposite material was originally developed becausenof its perceived good performance under hydrostatic operatingnconditions. Several constrained-dimensional models for piezocompositenhydrophones have been proposed but were found to lack accuracy whenncompared with experimental data. In addition, they could not be easilynextended to include the effect of ancillary components such as covernplates, on the transducer behavior. In this work a finite element modelnis used for modelling of 1-3 piezocomposite hydrophones to help overcomenthese two shortfalls. A finite element model initially developed fornmodelling of thickness mode operation has been extended to includenlateral pressures typical of the hydrostatic environment. The responsenof the new model has been compared with experiment with satisfactorynresults, allowing an extensive set of simulations to be presented forncomprehensive evaluation of 1-3 piezocomposite design as an actuator orna hydrophone. The best hydrostatic performance was obtained by using anlow volume fraction composite of PZT-5H and a soft, compressiblenpolymer, with potential enhancements by the incorporation of stiff covernplates covering the ceramic pillars. It is shown that the aspect rationof the ceramic pillars should be minimized to maximize stress transfer.nAdditionally, ceramic pillar shape and distribution do not exert a majorninfluence on the hydrostatic behavior