On Electrically-maintained Vibrations

A wide drive frequency matching method for harmonic suppression and voltage stabilization of ultrasonic motors

To reduce harmonic components, balance system impedance, and stabilize driving voltage, an additional matching circuit is required for ultrasonic motors (USMs) driver. However, the performance of inductor or capacitor matching can be seriously weakened with changes in driving frequency. Therefore, this paper presents a simple and effective LC matching method against driving frequency adjustment for USMs. First, the driving scheme of the USM is proposed and the electromechanical coupling model is analyzed. Subsequently, the output characteristics of the full-bridge inverter are derived theoretically when the driving frequency deviates from the mechanical resonant frequency. Then, the impedance circular transform method is proposed, which can intuitively analyze the effect of matching parameters on the voltage amplitude. A matching objective function is established that can consider both the voltage stabilization and harmonic suppression. The matching parameters are solved using random weight particle swarm optimization. Simulations and experiments demonstrate that within the operating frequency of the USM, the proposed matching method can effectively prevent overvoltage and suppress harmonic components. Furthermore, compared with the existing resonant matching method, the proposed matching method can realize more stable driving capability at different frequencies. The proposed method could be useful for USMs' variable-frequency driver design.

Analysis of spurious peaks at series resonance in solidly mounted resonators by combined BVD-Mason modelling

Solidly Mounted Resonators (SMRs) for high frequency RF filters and sensing applications often display spurious resonances that distort their frequency response. In this work, we try to identify the origin of spurious resonances accompanying the main series resonances in AlN-based SMRs with the help of modified Butterworth Van Dyke (BVD) and Mason's models. By manufacturing SMRs of different sizes and shapes and studying the influence of the position of the electrical probing spot, we have demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that devices with larger areas are more likely to display these additional peaks. Our updated models accurately simulate the frequency response of the SMRs, revealing that spurious peaks are mostly related to the resistance of the electrodes. Our study clarifies the origin of the spurious resonances and offers solutions for both, the optimal design and measurement method of SMRs.

Wide-band electrical and electromechanical properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) piezoelectric films using electro-acoustic reflectometry

Thin piezoelectric polymer films are used in increasingly more high frequency applications. However, they are not well characterized up to the gigahertz range. In this paper, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) films are mechanically and electrically characterized using the electro-acoustic reflectometry (EAR) method from 20 MHz to 2 GHz. In addition to mechanical and electrical properties, nonuniform poling is detected in the tested PVDF-TrFE samples showing a larger piezoelectric constant in the middle of the film and thus generating even and odd resonance modes.

Transient Response Characteristics Analysis of High-Power Piezoelectric Transducers

To improve suitability in applications with high dynamic performance requirements, the transient response characteristics of high-power piezoelectric transducers should be studied quantitatively. This paper proposes the vector reduction method to solve the complex transient equations and obtains a transient matching scheme clarifying the mechanism of electrical matching resistance on electromechanical damping. A matching scheme with a combination of full-bridge inverter, transformer and series LC circuit is designed and validated, which can provide suitable electrical damping without causing energy losses. Consequently, the experiment verifies the transient properties of the proposed scheme. For a typical piezoelectric cutting transducer with 100.8 ms response time, our scheme is verified to have high dynamic performance within frequency response time of 5.5 ms and vibration response time of 15.0 ms.

Nonlinearity in a Medical Ultrasound Probe Under High Excitation Voltage

Tissue harmonic imaging is often the preferred ultrasound imaging modality due to its ability to suppress reverberations. The method requires good control of the transmit stage of the ultrasound scanner, as harmonics in the transmitted ultrasound pulses will interfere with the harmonics generated in the tissue during nonlinear propagation, degrading image quality. In this study, a medical ultrasound probe used in tissue harmonic imaging was experimentally characterized for transmitted second-harmonic distortion to identify and compare the sources of nonlinear distortion in the probe and transmit electronics. The system was tested up to amplitudes above what is found during conventional operation, pushing the system to the limits in order to investigate the phenomenon. Under these conditions, second-harmonic levels up to -20 dB relative to the fundamental frequency were found in the ultrasound pulses transmitted from the probe. The transmit stage consists of high-voltage transmit electronics, cable, tuning inductors, and the acoustic stack. The contribution from the different stages in the ultrasound transmit chain was quantified by separating and measuring at different positions. Nonlinearities in the acoustic transducer stack were identified as the dominating source for second harmonics in the transmitted ultrasound pulses. Contribution from other components, e.g., transmit electronics and cable and tuning circuitry, were found to be negligible compared with that from the acoustic stack. Investigation of the stack's electrical impedance at different driving voltages revealed that the impedance changes significantly as a function of excitation voltage. The second-harmonic peak in the transmitted pulses can be explained by this nonlinear electrical impedance distorting the driving voltage and current.

A Driving and Control Scheme of High Power Piezoelectric Systems over a Wide Operating Range

Significant variation in impedance under a wide range of loads increases the difficulty of frequency tracking and vibration control in high-power piezoelectric systems (HPPSs). This paper proposed a wide operating range driving and control scheme for HPPSs. We systematically analyzed the impedance characteristics and deduced the load optimization frequency. In order to provide sufficient drive capability, the inverter combined with an LC matching circuit is configured. With the aid of a transformer ratio arm bridge (TRAB) combined with a proposed pulse-based phase detector (PBPD), the proposed scheme can control the vibration amplitude and keep parallel resonance status under a wide range of loads. Experiments conducted under actual operating conditions verify the feasibility of the proposed scheme under the modal resistance range from 7.40 to 500 Ω and the vibration range from 20% to 100%. Moreover, with the aid of a laser displacement sensor, our scheme is verified to have a vibration amplitude control accuracy better than 2% over a tenfold load variation. This research could be helpful for the driving and control of HPPSs operating in a wide range.

Gas sensors based on mass-sensitive transducers part 1: transducers and receptors-basic understanding

The scientific interest in gas sensors is continuously increasing because of their environmental, medical, industrial, and domestic applications. This has resulted in an increasing number of investigations being reported in the literature and communicated at conferences. The present review, organized in two parts, addresses the peculiarities of gas sensors based on mass-sensitive transducers, starting with their structure and functionality and progressing to implementation and specific use. In this first part of the review, we discuss the constructional peculiarities and operation regions and the physical and chemical processes governing the reception and transduction functions and the way in which they influence the sensor sensing parameters/features. Scientific outcomes and trends in research into gas sensors based on mass sensitive transducers are also considered.

The Resistance-Amplitude-Frequency Effect of In-Liquid Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Due to the influence of liquid load, the equivalent resistance of in-liquid quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) increases sharply, and the quality factor and resonant frequency decreases. We found that the change in the resonant frequency of in-liquid QCM consisted of two parts: besides the frequency changes due to the mass and viscous load (which could be equivalent to motional inductance), the second part of frequency change was caused by the increase of motional resistance. The theoretical calculation and simulation proved that the increases of QCM motional resistance may indeed cause the decreases of resonant frequency, and revealed that the existence of static capacitance was the root cause of this frequency change. The second part of frequency change (due to the increases of motional resistance) was difficult to measure accurately, and may cause great error for in-liquid QCM applications. A technical method to reduce the interference caused by this effect is presented. The study contributes to the accurate determination of the frequency and amplitude change of in-liquid QCM caused by liquid load, which is significant for the QCM applications in the liquid phase.

Electrostatic Generation of Bulk Acoustic Waves and Electrical Parameters of Si-MEMS Resonators

This paper proposes an analytical approach to model the generation of bulk acoustic waves in an electrostatically excited silicon MEMS structure, as well as its electromechanical response in terms of static and dynamic displacements, electromechanical coupling, and motional current. The analysis pertains to the single-port electrostatic drive of trapped-energy thickness-extensional (TE) modes in thin plates. Both asymmetric single-side and symmetric double-side electrostatic gap configurations are modeled. Green's function is used to describe the characteristic of the static displacement of the driven surface of the structure versus the dc bias voltage, which allows us to determine the electrical response of the resonator. Optical and electrical characterizations have been performed on resonator samples operating at 10.3 MHz on the fundamental of TE mode under single-side electrostatic excitation. The various figures of merit depend on the dc bias voltage. Typical values of 9000 for the Q-factor, and of 10(-5) for the electromechanical coupling factor k(2) have been obtained with [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]-thick gaps. Here-considered modes have a typical temperature coefficients of frequency (TCF) close to -30 ppm/(°)C. We conclude that the practical usability of such electrostatically excited bulk acoustic waves (BAW) resonators essentially depends on the efficiency of the compensation of feed-through capacitance.

Investigating and understanding fouling in a planar setup using ultrasonic methods

Fouling is an unwanted deposit on heat transfer surfaces and occurs regularly in foodstuff heat exchangers. Fouling causes high costs because cleaning of heat exchangers has to be carried out and cleaning success cannot easily be monitored. Thus, used cleaning cycles in foodstuff industry are usually too long leading to high costs. In this paper, a setup is described with which it is possible, first, to produce dairy protein fouling similar to the one found in industrial heat exchangers and, second, to detect the presence and absence of such fouling using an ultrasonic based measuring method. The developed setup resembles a planar heat exchanger in which fouling can be made and cleaned reproducible. Fouling presence, absence, and cleaning progress can be monitored by using an ultrasonic detection unit. The setup is described theoretically based on electrical and mechanical lumped circuits to derive the wave equation and the transfer function to perform a sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis was done to determine influencing quantities and showed that fouling is measurable. Also, first experimental results are compared with results from sensitivity analysis.

Modeling piezoelectric and piezomagnetic devices and structures via equivalent networks

A history of equivalent circuit modeling of acoustic structures is presented. This is followed by a tutorial development of their use to represent piezoelectric (PE) and piezomagnetic (PM) plate transducers and bimorph cantilever beams for the purpose of facilitating transition of modern micro/nanotechnology creations to practical sensor, actuator, and transducer applications. Circuit approximations of various types are derived from the more general networks.

A new method for continuous monitoring of series resonance frequency and simple determination of motional impedance parameters for loaded quartz-crystal resonators

A new electronic design for continuous motional series resonant frequency monitoring of loaded quartz crystal resonators is presented. Using this circuit, a low-cost method for a simple determination of equivalent circuit parameters of quartz crystal resonators is described. Measurements made with the proposed system on typical AT cut quartz crystals are in good agreement with those of an Impedance Analyzer.