Application Cases

Experiment Name: Acoustic Reception Capability Testing of Ultrasonic Transducers

Test Equipment: ATA-4012 high-voltage power amplifier, signal generator, oscilloscope, piezoelectric ceramic, etc.

Experimental Procedure:

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of the Testing Platform

Figure 1 illustrates the working principle of the testing platform. The process is as follows: a small excitation signal is generated by the signal generator. This small signal is converted into a high-power signal by the high-voltage amplifier to drive the piezoelectric ceramic on the transmitting end. The piezoelectric ceramic bonded to the steel plate vibrates upon receiving the high-power driving signal, exciting the steel plate to generate Lamb waves at a specific excitation frequency. The Lamb waves propagate from one end of the steel plate to the other, where they are received by a comb transducer integrated into the steel plate. The transducer converts the waves into detection signals, which are finally displayed as waveforms on the oscilloscope.

Figure 2: Physical Image of the Testing Platform

Figure 3: Waveform Displayed on the Oscilloscope

As shown in Figure 3, the oscilloscope successfully displays the waveform of the comb transducer. It should be noted that when the signal generator’s center frequency was set to 400 kHz, the output waveform of the comb transducer was chaotic. Only when the excitation frequency was adjusted to approximately 396 kHz did the transducer’s received waveform stabilize. This indicates that the transducer can receive Lamb wave ultrasonic signals at a specific center frequency. However, this frequency differs from the designed frequency, which may be attributed to calculation errors, imprecise electrode printing, and changes in the physical properties of the steel plate after heat treatment.

Experimental Results:
BNBT6 piezoelectric ceramic was prepared using thermal spraying, and a BNBT6 piezoelectric ceramic comb transducer integrated into the steel plate was fabricated. Based on the discussion of Lamb wave detection frequency, the structure of the comb transducer was designed. An experimental platform was established to test the comb transducer’s reception of Lamb wave ultrasonic signals at specific frequencies, demonstrating the feasibility of the BNBT6 piezoelectric ceramic comb transducer for structural detection and health monitoring.

Recommended High-Voltage Power Amplifier: ATA-4012C

Figure: ATA-4012C High-Voltage Power Amplifier Specifications

The experimental materials in this article were compiled and published by Xi'an Aigtek Electronics.