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Considerations regarding the design of a power ultrasonic transducer

with flat rectangular plate
Roque R. Andrés, Enrique Riera
Grupo de Sistemas y Tecnologías Ultrasónicas (GSTU), ITEFI, CSIC; Madrid, España
*[email protected]

Abstract: There are several industrial The design of these ultrasonic systems can be
applications, like food dehydration [1], done using finite element methods, considering
atomization and textile washing [2] among that this is a multiphysics simulation that
others, that are enhanced by the use of power comprises electrical, mechanical and acoustical
ultrasonic transducers with flat rectangular plate aspects [4, 5].
radiator. There are some important aspects regarding
These transducers are composed by three main the analysis of the behavior of the transducer that
parts, the piezoelectric sandwich transducer, the is important to take into account.
mechanical amplifier, and the extensive plate First of all, a theoretical analysis has to be
radiator. Apart from the general considerations done in order to know the approximate
[3-5] to take into account when designing a dimensions of each component, the transducer
power ultrasonic transducer, there are other [10], the mechanical amplifier and the flat
important aspects to analyze like the application rectangular radiator [11].
of a prestress in the sandwich and the On the other side, it is necessary to highlight
determination of the dimensions of the the importance of a mechanical prestress in the
rectangular plate radiator to excite the ceramic stack in order to avoid fractures in the
operational mode at the desired frequency. ceramics when applying high voltage under
The aim of this work is to provide information resonance [12].
about how to simulate the prestress in the The main objective of this work is to provide
piezoelectric stack and its effects using several tips regarding the theoretical and
COMSOL Multiphysics® and to assess the numerical design of an airborne power ultrasonic
vibrational behavior of rectangular plates, transducer with flat rectangular plate, using
comparing theoretical and numerical methods. COMSOL Multiphysics®, taking into account
the initial dimensions of every component and
Keywords: power ultrasonic transducers, the crucial application of a mechanical prestress
piezoelectric transduction, mechanical prestress, to the ceramic stack.
vibration of plates.

2. Simulation of the mechanical prestress

1. Introduction
2.1 Determination of the pretension.
Industrial processes assisted by high-power
ultrasound (HPU) have become a new, green and The mathematical model corresponds to a
efficient technology with a great potential in its Piezoelectric Device, that includes Electrostatics
implementation. Previous researches [6, 7] and Structural Mechanics physics, and the
showed that these HPU technologies provide a multiphysics analysis of COMSOL Multiphysics
good performance in processes like particle 5.2a®.
agglomeration, defoaming of food dehydration. The transducer is composed by two stacks of
In order to provoke the desired effects, it is two piezoelectric ceramics separated by a brass
necessary to generate a stable high level flange, two attached steel masses and a
ultrasonic field, covering a wide volume in gas mechanical amplifier (or horn). When the
media. Previous works indicated that the right transducer is excited with an electric voltage, the
devices to produce this ultrasonic field are the ceramics experience a piezoelectric effect and
high-power ultrasonic transducers with extensive change its size according to the electric
radiators [8, 9]. excitation. An alternate current provokes a
mechanical vibration of the ceramics, which is

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

transmitted to the rest of the components of the In order to define and apply the prestress to
transducer. the transducer, a two steps simulation has to be
The piezoelectric ceramics used in power done in an Eigenfrequencies or Frequency
transducers for industrial applications are Domain study. The first step is a stationary
exposed to high voltages, which may lead to simulation, under an open-circuit electrical
high strains. These strains can provoke breakages condition (only the negative poles of the
in the ceramics. A mechanical prestress caused ceramics are connected to ground and positive
by the a central bolt compresses the ceramics and poles are left free). The magnitude of the
allows strains without higher amplitudes pretension should guarantee a mechanical
minimizing the risk of fractures [12]. The prestress of 25 MPa in the piezoceramics [4], as
application of this prestress, depending on its shown in Figure 2:
magnitude, may cause changes in the behavior of
the transducer [13]. The numerical analysis of
the prestress done in this work corresponds to an
ultrasonic transducer working at around 21 kHz.
The magnitude of the simulated prestress is 25
MPa in the ceramics [4]. In this case, a slight
frequency shift is expected compared to the
system without this prestress [13].
The 3D model of the transducer is shown in
Figure 1, where it can be observed the two
piezoceramic stacks separated by a brass flange,
the back and front masses, the horn and the
central bolt, in charge of applying the required
prestress. This model corresponds to a a)
symmetric model, with the simulations carried
out only in half of the system:

b)
Figure 2. Pretension obtained in the piezoceramic
stack. a) Definition of the line where the prestress is
defined. b) Magnitude of the Von Mises stress along
the defined line
Figure 1. Model of the transducer
The second step is a dynamic analysis, in
When working in a 3D model, the which the results obtained in the previous step
application of a prestress does not imply a high have to be considered as input data. The way to
difficulty. After defining the bolt using the parts do this is considering the geometric nonlinearity
library in the geometry node, we can use the on the second step and defining a linear
“Bolt-Pretension” node in the Solid Mechanics perturbation in the stationary solver, using the
physic, and there we can define the magnitude of previous stored solution in the new one. The
this prestress. configuration of the stationary solver is shown in
Figure 3:

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

 a) b)
Figure 3. Configuration of the stationary solver to use Figure 4. Extensional mode of the transducer. a)
the static solution to the Frequency Domain study Without prestress. b) With prestress

2.2 Eigenfrequencies study.

The operational mode of this transducer is a

thickness mode of the ceramics and an
extensional mode in the horn, where
displacement amplification takes place.

An eigenfrequency study has been done in

order to find the frequency where this
operational mode takes place. This study has
been carried out for the two situations, without
and with prestress, obtaining a frequency
displacement of around 600 Hz (27731 Hz in the
case of a transducer without prestress, and 27138
Hz for the simulation with prestress) when
applying the prestress. The displacement
obtained in both situations can be observed in
Figure 4. a) b)
Figure 5. a) Static contribution to the total
All these simulations are composed by a displacement. b) Dynamic contribution
static and a dynamic component. The final
solution comprises both of them and the 2.3 Frequency domain study.
contribution of the static and dynamic parts can
be observed in every simulation. These A frequency domain analysis around resonance
contributions to the eigenfrequency has been done, applying a voltage of 10V to the
determination can be seen in Figure 5, where it is ceramics, in order to determine the maximum
easy to appreciate how the bolt pretension displacement at the tip of the mechanical
provokes a displacement in the whole transducer, amplifier (Figure 6.a) and the amplification
and how the extensional mode achieves achieved in the horn (Figure 6.b):
maximum values of displacement in the tip of
the horn.

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

 suffers values of mechanical stress higher than
500 MPa in the horn, while the prestressed
system has maximum values of 300 Pa in the
bolt and less than 100 Pa in the horn:

a)

a) b)
Figure 7. Mechanical stress in the transducer. a)
System without prestress. b) System with prestress

3. Vibration of rectangular plates

3.1 Theoretical studies.

b) Vibration of plates has been widely studied

Figure 6. Frequency domain analysis. a) Maximum in the past. In the case of rectangular flat plates
displacement at the tip. b) Displacement amplification vibrating freely, works of Warburton [14] or
in the horn Leissa [15], among others, ended with the
determination of an equation (Eq.1) for vibration
As it can be observed in Figure 6.a, the of rectangular plates, published by W.G.
stationary step, the prestress, applies a fixed Caldersmith [11]:
displacement in the whole frequency range that
reduces the maximum displacement at the tip, as ℎ2 2 −1 4
2 −1 4
can be observed in Figure 6.b, where the system 2
= + +
,
4.86 4 2 4 2
without prestress achieves a displacement of 120
µm and the system with prestress has a
+ 2 2
(1)
maximum of about 11 µm. 1,1

It can be seen in Figure 6.b that the Where:

displacement provoked by the pretension also - fm,n is the frequency where the desired
implies a smaller displacement at the tip and mode happens.
amplification in the horn. - m and n are the number of nodal lines
perpendicular to x and y side, respectively.
Finally, one of the main objectives of applying - Lx, Ly y h are the length of x and y sides,
this pretension is to avoid high values of and the thickness, respectively.
mechanical stress when applying power. In
Figure 7 the differences in terms of stress can be - ρ is the density of the plate.
observed. The transducer without prestress

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

 - Dx and Dy are the corrected Young 3.2 Numerical study.
Modulus for dimensions x and y.
- f1,1 is the first shear mode. The numerical study of vibration of plates
- cl is the sound speed in the plate. has been done with the Structural Mechanics
Module of COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2a®. Only
The previous expression has been proved to an Eigenfrequency study is necessary for this
have a good matching in rectangular thin plates, task. This analysis is necessary to assess the
but the theoretical calculations differ from the accuracy of the Caldersmith equation (Eq.1)
real behavior of thick rectangular plates. depending on the dimensions and the order of the
desired mode.
There are different configurations of airborne
power ultrasonic transducers with rectangular The operational modes of the three plates
plates depending on the specific industrial (made of duralumin) are shown in Figure 8.
application of each transducer. The rectangular
radiator is attached to the mechanical amplifier
in its center and is the place where the
mechanical excitation takes place to obtain a free
vibration of the plate.

The typologies of the rectangular plates are

diverse, with different dimensions. It is not easy
to assure that a plate is or not a thin plate, so a
a) Plate A
FEM analysis is useful.

A theoretical and numerical analysis of the

vibration of plates has been done for three
different rectangular radiators that have
operational modes with a number of nodal lines
in only one direction:

- Plate A: Plate with dimensions

570x308x34 mm and an operational mode of 12 b) Plate B
nodal lines (NL) in the transversal direction for
food dehydration purposes. According to the
Eq.1, this mode happens at 33799 Hz.
- Plate B: Plate with dimensions
220x50x10 mm and an operational mode of 2
NL in the longitudinal direction for ultrasonic
cleaning. According to the Eq.1, this mode
c) Plate C
happens at 21979 Hz. Figure 8. Operational modes of the three rectangular
- Plate C: Plate with dimensions plates studied
580x220x15,4 mm and an operational mode of
16 NL in the transversal direction for The frequencies where the operational modes
atomization. According to the Eq.1, this mode happen are different in the theoretical and in the
happens at 33799 Hz. According to the Eq.1, this numerical studies, with errors of almost 13 kHz
mode happens at 26860 Hz. (38%) in Plate A, of about 2,6 kHz (12%) in
Plate B and of 5,6 kHz (21%) in Plate C.
In order to check the suitability of this
method, a numerical study has been done for the Eq.1 has different errors depending on the
three plates, trying to find this operational mode dimensions of the plates. In order to determine
and other near modes. the nature of these errors, an extended study has
been done, trying to identify other modes using

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

both methods. The input parameters have been higher in higher modes or when the distance
normalized establishing a relationship between between nodal lines is smaller.
the length, thickness and number of nodal lines
in the plate. In this case, the new parameter is Furthermore, this error not only increases with
h/d, which is the ratio between the thickness (h) the parameter h/d, but it is also similar in the
and the distance between nodal lines (d). The three plates.
results obtained after this new study has been
summarized in Figure 9: Considering an error of 15% between the
theoretical and the numerical studies as
acceptable, the parameter h/d should not be
higher than 0.35. This means that the theoretical
study is accurate when the distance between
nodal lines is, at least three times the thickness of
the plate.

4. Conclusions

The design and analysis of the behavior of an

airborne power ultrasonic transducer with flat
rectangular radiator has been done using
COMSOL Multiphysics®.

Nevertheless, there are some aspects that

should be considered in order to improve the
global study. Among others, the study of the bolt
pretension and the vibration of the rectangular
plate are of special interest.

The simulation of the prestress can be done

with a two-step simulation: a stationary analysis
in which the application of the prestress is set;
and a second step that includes the results of the
previous one as an input.

In the case of the study of vibration of plates,

the theoretical equations have been checked for
three different configurations using the Structural
Module of COMSOL Multiphysics®. It has been
proved numerically that the theoretical method
has an error of around 15% when the distance
between nodal lines in the vibrational mode is
three times, or more, the thickness of the plate.

Figure 9. Accuracy of the theoretical studies of 5. References

vibration of plates depending on the dimensions and
vibration mode of the plate
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Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam

[2] J.A. Gallego-Juarez, E. Riera, V.M. Acosta,
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Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Rotterdam