Circumferential and Spiral Waves in Piezoelectric Cylinders

Study of the guided waves in piezoelectric cylinders based on a semi-analytical finite element method is presented. In the study, the dispersion equation was formulated as a generalized eigenvalue problem by treating mechanical displacements and electric potential with one dimensional quadratic finite element model through the thickness of the cylinder. Here the general eigenvalue problem is depended on three parameters, namely, the frequency, the axial wave number and the circumferential wave. A non-integer circumferential wave is introduced here for studying the guided spiral wave. A wave spectrum surface is generated to incorporate the guided spiral waves. Cylinders having different geometry and electric boundary conditions are studied but only the results for a thin cylinder with closed electric boundary conditions are presented.