Piezoelectric thick bismuth titanate/lead zirconate titanate composite film transducers for smart NDE of metals

Thick film piezoelectric ceramic sensors have been successfully deposited on different metallic substrates with different shapes by a sol?gel spray technique. The ball-milled bismuth titanate fine powders were dispersed into PZT solution to achieve the gel. The films with desired thickness up to 200??m have been obtained through the multilayer coating approach. These thick films were also effectively coated onto thin sheet metals of thickness down to 25??m. Self-support films with flat and shell geometries were made. Piezoelectricity was achieved using the corona discharge poling method. The area of the top silver paste electrode was also optimized. The center frequencies of ultrasonic signals generated by these films ranged from 3.6 to 30?MHz and their bandwidth was broad as well. The ultrasonic signals generated and received by these ultrasonic transducers (UTs) operated in the pulse/echo mode had a signal to noise ratio more than 30?dB. The main advantages of such sensors are that they (1) do not need couplant, (2) can serve as piezoelectric and UT, (3) can be coated onto curved surfaces and (4) can operate up to 440??C. The capability of these thick film UTs for non-destructive evaluation of materials at 440??C has been demonstrated.

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