Investigations of PMN-PT composites for high sensitive ultrasonic phased array probes in NDE

This paper describes the manufacturing and evaluation of a PMN-PT 1-3 composite based phased array ultrasonic probe for nondestructive evaluation (NDE). The electromechanical parameters of PMN-PT based 1-3 composites were measured and the composites were directly used in the acoustic stack manufacturing process (matching layer, etc.) similar to conventional PZT based probes. The performance of the phased array probes was measured by a PCUS® pro phased array electronic front end from Fraunhofer and compared with a PZT composite based phased array probe. The behavior of the single elements as well as the usability for a standard phased array sector scan was evaluated. The PMN-PT phased array probe shows a significant improvement of the sensitivity and a higher bandwidth.