Investigation of a fibre wave piezoelectric transducer

This paper is concerned with the development of an ultrasonic fibre wave piezoelectric transducer for the monitoring of local structural hot spots. A lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramic with electrodes is used as a wave generator or demodulator, and polyimide coated optical fibres installed on the PZT element function are used as ultrasonic carriers. It is demonstrated that the fibre wave PZT transducer offers major advantages over a conventional PZT transducer. These advantages include remote and multipoint ultrasonic transmission and reception, strong directivity, small size, and flexibility. The fibre wave PZT transducer possesses many advantages of the fibre optic ultrasonic sensors without the necessity of costly optical devices. The strong directivity, high spatial resolution, and good cost–performance ratio make the fibre wave piezoelectric transducer a useful tool for local structural hot spot monitoring.