3D Textured Ceramic Piezoelectric Transducers With Radial Grain Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for forming curved three-dimensional piezoelectric devices, such as hemispherical transducers, fail to achieve optimal omnidirectional piezoelectric performance due to limitations in texturing techniques, particularly when using stacked and pressed tape-casted sheets, as they lack radial alignment of crystallites.
Innovation Solution
Cut multiple conformable tape-casted textured ceramic sheets into preselected patterns and stack them smoothly on a mold to form a desired three-dimensional shape, maintaining radial grain orientation throughout the structure, and compress the stack using a heated isostatic press.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If multiple thin tape-casted sheets are stacked and pressed together to form a curved three-dimensional structure, then the structural integrity and density are improved, but the radial alignment of crystallites is lost resulting in degraded omnidirectional piezoelectric performance
Solution Approach 1:
The curved three-dimensional structure is segmented into multiple thin tape-casted sheets that can be individually textured and then stacked. Each sheet maintains its own textured grain structure, and when stacked, they collectively form the curved shape while preserving radial grain alignment through careful orientation during assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from planar texturing to three-dimensional radial texturing by stacking multiple sheets in a curved configuration. The grain orientation is extended from two-dimensional planar alignment to three-dimensional radial alignment centered on the hemispheric curvature, achieving omnidirectional piezoelectric performance
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional planar sheet stacking is used to form hollow hemispheres, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but omnidirectional piezoelectric performance cannot be achieved due to single-direction texturing
Solution Approach 1:
The tape-casted sheets are pre-textured with aligned crystallites in the desired radial orientation before stacking. This preliminary texturing action ensures that when the sheets are assembled into the curved hemispheric structure, the grains are already properly oriented to achieve optimal omnidirectional piezoelectric performance without requiring post-assembly texturing
Solution Approach 2:
The grain orientation parameter is changed from planar alignment to radial alignment by controlling the texturing process during sheet fabrication. This parameter change enables the material to respond optimally to acoustic forces from all directions when formed into the curved three-dimensional structure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method ensures that all grains in the final piezoelectric device are radially aligned, maximizing piezoelectric performance by enabling optimal acoustic response in all directions.
Implementation Method 1
compress the stack using a heated isostatic press
Implementation Method 2
textured piezoelectric ceramics technology
Data Source
AI summary
A hollow three-dimensional piezoelectric device of conformable tape-casted textured ceramic material is formed sheets that are pre-cut in preselected patterns and smoothly conformably stacked in layers on a mold defining the desired three-dimensional shape. The final stack is isostatically compressed into the shape of the mold. The predetermined cut patterns are selectively configured to facilitate the smoothly conformable placement and stacking of the layers over the entire mold surface. The cut pattern may be three, four, or more convex circular triangles extending radially from a common point and that fit together to form a hemisphere when conformed to the mold. Each layer may comprise one or a plurality of tape-casted sheets, and the cut patterns in successive layers may be gradually dimensionally increased to accommodate the layer-to-layer increase in the diameter (i.e., thickness) of the stack.