Visualization of transient behaviour of piezoelectric ceramics by means of finite elements method

A method based on a finite-element analysis that permits the calculation and the visualization of deformations of ultrasonic transducers in different configurations is presented. The method uses a Fourier-series synthesis giving deformation of the free surface and electrical admittance for wide frequency bands by the use of finite element procedures previously developed. These methods were originally developed in the monochromatic case: one of the difficulties of this work was the adaptation and the validation of the methods in the multifrequency excitation cases, more realistic in the area of nondestructive examination (NDE) using ultrasonic methods. Several geometries were then tested, and an experimental confirmation of the results was achieved