Thermal model for piezoelectric transducers (L).

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Materials Science
• Physics

Background:

• Piezoelectric transducers generate heat during operation, impacting performance.
• Accurate heat power calculation is crucial for transducer design and reliability.
• Existing methods may be complex or limited in scope.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a lumped parameter equivalent circuit model for calculating transducer heat power.
• To validate the model with experimental and finite element analysis data.
• To provide a tool for evaluating heating in various piezoelectric transducers.

Main Methods:

• Developed a lumped parameter equivalent circuit model.
• Performed heat power calculations at resonance using attainable parameters.
• Conducted experimental measurements and finite element analysis (FEA) for steady-state thermal results.
• Compared model predictions with FEA and experimental data for a specific transducer.

Main Results:

• The lumped parameter model accurately calculates heat power at resonance for transducers with uniform fields.
• Experimental and FEA results for steady-state thermal behavior align with model predictions.
• The model is effective for the monopole mode of a single crystal driven modal transducer projector.

Conclusions:

• The presented model offers a simplified yet effective approach to transducer heat power calculation.
• This model serves as a valuable physical and computational aid for evaluating piezoelectric transducer heating.
• The method is applicable to both highly coupled single crystal and ceramic piezoelectric transducers.