Functional composites for sensors, actuators and transducers

Abstract Following the trend in structural applications, composite structures are being used more commonly in transducer applications to improve acoustic, mechanical and electrical performance of piezoelectric devices. Functional composite transducers for actuators and sensors generally consist of an active ceramic phase incorporated with a passive polymer phase, each of which has a phase transition associated with it. In this paper, several polymer–piezoelectric ceramic composite transducers, mostly designed for sensing hydrostatic waves, are discussed based on the connectivity of the constituent phases. Also discussed are some recent examples of metal–ceramic composites, and single element ceramic transducers with modified shapes for improved performance. A comparison of these designs is given based on their hydrophone figure of merit ( d h · g h ).

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