A uniform-sensitivity omnidirectional shear-horizontal (SH) wave transducer based on a thickness poled, thickness-shear (d15) piezoelectric ring. (6th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huan, Qiang; Miao, Hongchen; Li, Faxin
• Is Part Of: Smart materials and structures. Volume 26:Number 8(2017:Aug.)
• Publication Date: 2017-07-06
• Subjects: guided wave -- shear horizontal wave -- piezoelectric transducer -- omnidirectional; Smart materials -- Periodicals; Strucural design -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-665X/aa7244
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-1726

Abstract

Abstract: The fundamental shear horizontal (SH0 ) wave in plates is of great importance in the field of nondestructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) since it is the unique non-dispersive guided wave mode. For practical applications, a phased array system based on omnidirectional SH0 wave transducers is most useful as it can cover a wide range of a plate. However, so far very few omnidirectional SH wave transducers have been developed. In this work, we proposed an omnidirectional SH wave piezoelectric transducer (OSH-PT) based on a thickness poled piezoelectric ring. The ring is equally divided into twelve sectors and the electric field is circumferentially applied, resulting in a new thickness-shear (d15 ) mode. Finite element analysis shows that the proposed OSH-PT can excite single-mode SH0 wave and receive the SH0 wave only. Experiments were then conducted to examine the performance of the proposed OSH-PT. Results indicated that it can generate and receive single-mode SH0 wave in a wide frequency range with nearly uniform sensitivities along all directions. Considering its quite simple configuration, compact size and low cost, the proposed OSH-PT is expected to greatly promote the applications of SH waves in the field of NDT and SHM.