Characterization of ultrasonic transducer through transmission systems

Five different designs of broadband piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers are evaluated and compared to determine the effects of various transducer design parameters on the transducer response. The transducer tested include the Acoustic Emission Technology (AET) FC-500 transducers, consisting of a 0.073 cubic centimeters (0.029 in) lead metaniobate piezoelement, 0.035 cm (0.014 in) titanium carbide wearplate and 0.635 cubic centimeters (0.250 in) tungsten epoxy backing layer; the AE-101, a prototype identical to the FC-500 except that it has a 0.035 cubic centimeters (0.014 in) aluminum wearplate; and the AE-100, AE-102, and AE-103, also identical to the FC-500 except that they have backing layers of 0.0 cubic centimeters (no backing), 1.270 cubic centimeters (0.500 in), and 1.905 cubic centimeters (0.750 in), respectively. Pairs of each of the transducers are clamped face-to-face and tested with narrow-band continuous sinusoids and tone bursts (0.4 to 3.0 MHz), and with a broadband input signal (1.0 used pulse).