• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.7
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• pp.835-849
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• 2010

This study investigated propagation characteristics of piezo-activated guided waves in an aluminium rectangular-section tube for the purpose of damage identification. Changes in propagating velocity and amplitude of the first wave packet in acquired signals were observed in the frequency range from 50 to 250 kHz. The difference in guided wave propagation between rectangular- and circular-section tubes was examined using finite element simulation, demonstrating a great challenge in interpretation of guided wave signals in rectangular-section tubes. An active sensor network, consisting of nine PZT elements bonded on different surfaces of the tube, was configured to collect the wave signals scattered from through-thickness holes of different diameters. It was found that guided waves were capable of propagating across the sharp tube curvatures while retaining sensitivity to damage, even that not located on the surfaces where actuators/sensors were attached. Signal correlation between the intact and damaged structures was evaluated with the assistance of a concept of digital damage fingerprints (DDFs). The probability of the presence of damage on the unfolded tube surface was thus obtained, by which means the position of damage was identified with good accuracy.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.377-384
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• 2009

The ultrasonic hyperthermia for oncology has been developed and studied. The HIFU(high intensity focused ultrasound) is the most recent method to treat the tumor by using ultrasound. In this study, an insertion-type transducer for treating a prostate cancer, which can focus the ultrasonic beam mechanically and electrically, was designed and developed. The developed transducer was composed of three arrays, and each array has 32 elements. For the purpose of the mechanical focusing, both side arrays are slanted to the center array by $15^{\circ}$. With this structure, NFL(near field length) was set up as 30 mm. The PZT-4 and two matching layers were used, and the backing layer was excepted to prevent energy losses. The acoustic field analysis and the heating test were performed to evaluate the performance of developed transducer. The shape of an acoustic field, peak pressure, and acoustic pressure distribution were compared with numerical simulation. The NFL was 32 mm, the beam width was 5 mm, focal area was $40\;mm^2$, and peak pressure was 5.5 MPa. With heating by using developed transducer, the temperature increased up to $33^{\circ}C$ at focal zone. As a result of this study, the usefulness of suggested transducer for prostate cancer hyperthermia was confirmed by the acoustic field analysis and the heating test with TMM(tissue mimicking) phantom.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.480-486
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• 2021

Magnetoelectric (ME) composite is composed of a piezoelectric material and a magnetostrictive material. Among various ME structures, 2-2 type layered ME composites are anticipated to be used as high-sensitivity magnetic field sensors and energy harvesting devices especially operating at its resonance modes. Rosen type piezoelectric transducer using piezoelectric material is known to amplify a small electrical input voltage to a large electrical output voltage. The output voltage of these Rosen type piezoelectric transducers can be further enhanced by modifying them into ME composite structures. Herein, we fabricated Rosen type ME composites by sandwiching Rosen type PMN-PZT single crystal between two Ni layers and studied their ME coupling. However, the voltage step-up ratio at the resonance frequency was found to be smaller than the value calculated with α_ME value. The ATILA FEA (Finite Elements Analysis) simulation results showed that the position of the nodal point was changed with the presence of a magnetostrictive layer. Thus, while designing a Rosen type ME composite with high performance in a resonant driving situation, it is necessary to optimize the position of the nodal point by optimizing the thickness or length of the magnetostrictive layer.