Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.

3b

Composite Transducer
Introduction
This example shows how to set up a piezoelectric transducer model following the work
of Y. Kagawa and T. Yamabuchi (Ref. 1). The composite piezoelectric ultrasonic
transducer has a cylindrical geometry that consists of a piezoceramic (NEPEC 6) layer,
two aluminum layers, and two adhesive layers. The layers are organized as follows:
aluminum layer–adhesive layer–piezoceramic layer–adhesive layer–aluminum layer.

The system applies an AC potential on the electrode surfaces of both sides of the
piezoceramic layer. The potential in this example has a peak value of 1 V in the
frequency range 20 kHz to 106 kHz. The goal is to compute the susceptance (the
imaginary part of the admittance) Y = I/V, where I is the total current and V is the
potential, for a frequency range around the four lowest eigenfrequencies of the
structure.

The first step finds the eigenmodes, and the second step runs a frequency sweep across
an interval that encompasses the first four eigenfrequencies. Both analyses are fully
coupled, and COMSOL Multiphysics assembles and solves both the electric and
mechanical parts of the problem simultaneously.

The problem is axially symmetric, and you could analyze it using a 2D axisymmetric
model. However, to illustrate the modeling principles for more complicated problems,
this example is in 3D.

When creating the model geometry, you make use of the symmetry by first making a
cut along a midplane perpendicular to the central axis and then cutting out a 10-degree
wedge; doing so reduces memory requirements significantly.

Model Data
The model uses the following material data.

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NEPEC 6 MATERIAL PARAMETERS

TABLE 1: ELASTICITY MATRIX cE

12.8e10 6.8e10 6.6e10 0 0 0
12.8e10 6.6e10 0 0 0
11.0e10 0 0 0
2.1e10 0 0
2.1e10 0
2.1e10

TABLE 2: COUPLING MATRIX e

0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
-6.1 -6.1 15.7 0 0 0

TABLE 3: RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY εrS

993.53 0 0
993.53 0
993.53

ALUMINUM MATERIAL PARAMETERS

PARAMETER EXPRESSION/VALUE DESCRIPTION

E 7.03e10 Young’s modulus

nu 0.345 Poisson’s ratio
rho 2690 Density

ADHESIVE MATERIAL PARAMETERS

PARAMETER EXPRESSION/VALUE DESCRIPTION

E 1e10 Young’s modulus

nu 0.38 Poisson’s ratio
rho 1700 Density

Results and Discussion

Figure 1 shows the lowest vibration mode of the piezoelectric transducer while
Figure 2 shows the transducer’s input susceptance as a function of the excitation
frequency.

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Figure 1: The lowest vibration eigenmode of the transducer.

Figure 2: Input susceptance as a function of excitation frequency.

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The result is in agreement with the work in Ref. 1. A small discrepancy close to the
eigenfrequencies appears because the simulation uses no damping.

Reference
1. Y. Kagawa and T. Yamabuchi, “Finite Element Simulation of a Composite
Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Transducer,” IEEE Transactions on Sonics and Ultrasonics,
vol. SU-26, no. 2, pp. 81–88, 1979.

Model Library path: MEMS_Module/Piezoelectric_Devices/

composite_transducer

Modeling Instructions

MODEL WIZARD
1 Go to the Model Wizard window.
2 Click Next.
3 In the Add physics tree, select Structural Mechanics>Piezoelectric Devices (pzd).
4 Click Next.
5 Find the Studies subsection. In the tree, select Preset Studies>Eigenfrequency.
6 Click Finish.

GEOMETRY 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 click Geometry 1.
2 In the Geometry settings window, locate the Units section.
3 From the Length unit list, choose mm.
4 Right-click Model 1>Geometry 1 and choose Work Plane.

Circle 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1>Geometry 1>Work Plane 1 right-click
Plane Geometry and choose Circle.
2 In the Circle settings window, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius edit field, type 27.5.
4 Click the Build Selected button.

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5 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.

Bézier Polygon 1
1 Right-click Plane Geometry and choose Bézier Polygon.
2 In the Bézier Polygon settings window, locate the Polygon Segments section.
3 Find the Added segments subsection. Click the Add Linear button.
4 Find the Control points subsection. In row 2, set xw to 30.
5 Click the Build Selected button.

Rotate 1
1 Right-click Plane Geometry and choose Transforms>Rotate.
2 Select the object b1 only.
3 In the Rotate settings window, locate the Input section.
4 Select the Keep input objects check box.
5 Locate the Rotation Angle section. In the Rotation edit field, type 10.
6 Click the Build Selected button.

Convert to Solid 1
1 Right-click Plane Geometry and choose Conversions>Convert to Solid.
2 Click in the Graphics window, press Ctrl+A to highlight all objects, and then
right-click to confirm the selection.
3 Click the Build Selected button.

Delete Entities 1
1 Right-click Plane Geometry and choose Delete Entities.
2 In the Delete Entities settings window, locate the Entities or Objects to Delete section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
4 Select the larger of the two sectors.
5 Click the Build Selected button.

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6 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.

Extrude 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Geometry 1 and choose Extrude.
2 In the Extrude settings window, locate the Distances from Plane section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Distances (mm)
5
5.275
15.275

4 Click the Build All button.

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5 Click the Go to Default 3D View button on the Graphics toolbar.

This completes the geometry modeling stage.

PIEZOELECTRIC DEVICES

Linear Elastic Material 1

1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 right-click Piezoelectric Devices and
choose Linear Elastic Material.
2 Select Domains 2 and 3 only.

MATERIALS

Material 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 right-click Materials and choose Material.
2 Right-click Material 1 and choose Rename.
3 Go to the Rename Material dialog box and type Nepec 6 in the New name edit field.
4 Click OK.
5 Select Domain 1 only.
6 In the Material settings window, locate the Material Properties section.

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7 In the Material properties tree, select Basic Properties>Density.

8 Click Add to Material.
9 In the Material properties tree, select Piezoelectric Models>Stress-Charge Form.
10 Click Add to Material.

Nepec 6
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Model 1>Materials>Nepec 6 node, then click
Basic.
2 In the Property Group settings window, locate the Output Properties and Model Inputs
section.
3 Find the Output properties subsection. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Expression

Density rho 7730

4 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1>Materials>Nepec 6 click Stress-charge

form.
5 In the Property Group settings window, locate the Output Properties and Model Inputs
section.
6 Find the Output properties subsection. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Expression

Elasticity matrix cE {12.8e10, 6.8e10, 12.8e10,
(Ordering: xx, yy, zz, yz, 6.6e10, 6.6e10, 11.0e10,
xz, xy) 0[Pa], 0[Pa], 0[Pa],
2.1e10, 0[Pa], 0[Pa],
0[Pa], 0[Pa], 2.1e10,
0[Pa], 0[Pa], 0[Pa],
0[Pa], 0[Pa], 2.1e10}
Coupling matrix eES {0[C/m^2], 0[C/m^2], -6.1,
(Ordering: xx, yy, zz, yz, 0[C/m^2], 0[C/m^2], -6.1,
xz, xy) 0[C/m^2], 0[C/m^2], 15.7,
0[C/m^2], 0, 0[C/m^2], 0,
0[C/m^2], 0[C/m^2], 0[C/
m^2], 0[C/m^2], 0[C/m^2]}
Relative permittivity epsilonrS 993.53

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Note: Alternatively, to define the symmetric elasticity matrix, cE, and the full
coupling matrix, eES, you can click the Edit button below the Output properties
table and use the matrix input dialogs to enter the data as given in section NEPEC 6
Material Parameters.

Material 2
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Materials and choose Material.
2 Right-click Material 2 and choose Rename.
3 Go to the Rename Material dialog box and type Adhesive in the New name edit field.
4 Click OK.
5 Select Domain 2 only.
6 In the Material settings window, locate the Material Contents section.
7 In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Name Value

Young's modulus E 1e10
Poisson's ratio nu 0.38
Density rho 1700

Material 3
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Materials and choose Material.
2 Right-click Material 3 and choose Rename.
3 Go to the Rename Material dialog box and type Aluminum in the New name edit field.
4 Click OK.
5 Select Domain 3 only.
6 In the Material settings window, locate the Material Contents section.
7 In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Name Value

Young's modulus E 7.03e10
Poisson's ratio nu 0.345
Density rho 2690

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PIEZOELECTRIC DEVICES

Terminal 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 right-click Piezoelectric Devices and
choose the boundary condition Electrical>Terminal.
2 Select Boundary 6 only.
3 In the Terminal settings window, locate the Terminal section.
4 From the Terminal type list, choose Voltage.
5 In the V0 edit field, type 0.5.
This is half of the total peak voltage between the terminals, which accounts for
modeling only the upper half of the transducer.

Ground 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Piezoelectric Devices and choose the
boundary condition Electrical>Ground.
2 Select Boundary 3 only.

Symmetry 1
1 Right-click Piezoelectric Devices and choose the boundary condition
Structural>Symmetry.
2 Select Boundaries 1–5, 7, and 8 only.
Select and right click to add Boundaries 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 one by one. Use the
mouse to rotate the image so that you can select all needed boundaries.
Alternatively, you can copy the text '1-5, 7, and 8' from this instruction and paste it
into the Selection box.

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3 Click the Go to Default 3D View button on the Graphics toolbar.

DEFINITIONS
Before generating the mesh, define a variable for the susceptance.

Variables 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 right-click Definitions and choose
Variables.
2 In the Variables settings window, locate the Variables section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Description

B imag(pzd.Y11)*36/2 Susceptance

In the above expression, the factor 36 compensates for the fact that the model is
only a 10 degree wedge of the full transducer. Moreover, the factor 1/2 accounts
for modeling only the upper half of the transducer because of symmetry in the z
direction.

MESH 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 click Mesh 1.

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2 In the Mesh settings window, locate the Mesh Settings section.

3 From the Element size list, choose Finer.

Free Triangular 1
1 Right-click Model 1>Mesh 1 and choose Free Triangular.
2 Select Boundary 3 only.

Distribution 1
1 Right-click Model 1>Mesh 1>Free Triangular 1 and choose Distribution.
2 Select Edges 2 and 3 only.
3 In the Distribution settings window, locate the Distribution section.
4 From the Distribution properties list, choose Predefined distribution type.
5 In the Number of elements edit field, type 20.
6 Click the Build Selected button.

Swept 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Mesh 1 and choose Swept.
2 In the Settings window, click Build All.

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STUDY 1
In the Model Builder window, right-click Study 1 and choose Compute.

RESULTS

Displacement (pzd)
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Displacement (pzd) node, then click Surface
1.
2 In the Surface settings window, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Piezoelectric Devices (Solid
Mechanics)>Displacement>Displacement field (Material)>Displacement field, Z
component (w).
3 Click the Plot button.
Compare the resulting plot to that in Figure 1.
Next, add a separate study for the frequency sweep.

ROOT
In the Model Builder window, right-click the root node and choose Add Study.

MODEL WIZARD
1 Go to the Model Wizard window.
2 Find the Studies subsection. In the tree, select Preset Studies>Frequency Domain.
3 Click Finish.

STUDY 2

Step 1: Frequency Domain

1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Study 2 node, then click Step 1: Frequency
Domain.
2 In the Frequency Domain settings window, locate the Study Settings section.
3 Click the Range button.
4 Go to the Range dialog box.
5 In the Start edit field, type 20e3.
6 In the Stop edit field, type 106e3.
7 In the Step edit field, type 2e3.
8 Click the Replace button.

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9 In the Model Builder window, right-click Study 2 and choose Compute.

RESULTS

Displacement (pzd) 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Displacement (pzd) 1 node, then click
Surface 1.
2 In the Surface settings window, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Piezoelectric Devices (Solid
Mechanics)>Displacement>Displacement field (Material)>Displacement field, Z
component (w).
3 Click the Plot button.

1D Plot Group 5
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Results and choose 1D Plot Group.
2 In the 1D Plot Group settings window, locate the Data section.
3 From the Data set list, choose Solution 2.
4 Right-click Results>1D Plot Group 5 and choose Point Graph.

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5 Select Point 1 only.

6 In the Point Graph settings window, click Replace Expression in the upper-right
corner of the y-Axis Data section. From the menu, choose Definitions>Susceptance
(B).
7 Click the Plot button.
Compare the result to that in Figure 2.

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