Regular Article

Underwater characterizations of monolithic piezoceramic and 1–3 composite using a self-designed transducer

¹ Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 45650 Islamabad, Pakistan
² Institute of Industrial Control Systems, P.O. Box 1398, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
³ Physics Division, PINSTECH, P.O. Nilore, 45600 Islamabad, Pakistan

^a e-mail: saleemirza@yahoo.com

Received: 7 May 2015
Revised: 13 November 2015
Accepted: 17 February 2016
Published online: 28 March 2016

Abstract

Underwater characterizations of (Pb_0.94Sr_0.04)(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) and PZT/araldite-F 1–3 composite were carried out through a self-designed transducer. Disc-shaped samples of bulk PZT and PZT/araldite-F composite were first characterized in air and then were assembled in the transducer individually. The transducer’s underwater voltage receiving sensitivity (S_h) and transmitting voltage response (S_v) were investigated in the frequency range of 10–200 kHz (well below thickness mode resonance) using a calibrated projector and receiver method with pulse technique. Results revealed that the transducer made with composite sample exhibited better (S_h) values (−214 dB ref 1 V/µPa) due to ~295% higher piezoelectric voltage coefficient g_h (30 × 10⁻³ Vm/N) of the composite compared to PZT. In addition, the transducer with the PZT sample showed better S_v values (80 dB ref 1 µPa/1 V at 1 m) due to the presence of planar mode peaks in the frequency range of 10–200 kHz. These results indicate that the monolithic piezoceramic can exhibit underwater S_v response in both planar and thickness resonance modes owing to the admittance peaks in these frequency regions.