Development of Ultrasonic Sensors for Simultaneous Measurement of Longitudinal and Shear Waves

A study has been made on the fabrication of a dual mode(a longitudinal and shear mode) ultrasonic sensor using a single PZT piezoelectric ceramic element. We investigated the mechanism of the dual mode sensor that generated both of the longitudinal and the shear waves simultaneously with the single PZT element. Through the analysis of analytic wave propagation equations, all the possible crystal cuts have been examined to determine appropriate Euler transformation angles for efficient excitations of the dual modes. We studied the performance of a PZT element as a function of its rotation angle so that its efficiency is optimized to excite the two waves of equal strength. Experimental examination of the waveform on a delay line(STS303) setup confirms that the ultrasonic sensor can transmit and detect both longitudinal and shear waves simultaneously.