Science in China Series G: Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy

2007 Science in China Press Springer-Verlag

PSPICE controlled-source models of analogous circuit for Langevin type piezoelectric transducer
CHEN YeongChin1, WU MenqJiun2, LIU WeiKuo2
1

Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Diwan College of Management, No. 87-1, Nanshi Li, Madou Town, Tainan County 72153, Taiwan; 2 Department of Mechatronics Engineering, National Changhua University of Education No.1, Chinde Rd., Changhua, Taiwan

The design and construction of wide-band and high efficiency acoustical projector has long been considered an art beyond the capabilities of many smaller groups. Langevin type piezoelectric transducers have been the most candidate of sonar array system applied in underwater communication. The transducers are fabricated, by bolting head mass and tail mass on both ends of stacked piezoelectric ceramic, to satisfy the multiple, conflicting design for high power transmitting capability. The aim of this research is to study the characteristics of Langevin type piezoelectric transducer that depend on different metal loading. First, the Mason equivalent circuit is used to model the segmented piezoelectric ceramic, then, the impedance network of tail and head masses is deduced by the Newton's theory. To obtain the optimal solution to a specific design formulation, PSPICE controlled-source programming techniques can be applied. A valid example of the application of PSPICE models for Langevin type transducer analysis is presented and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements.
acoustical projector, Langevin type, piezoelectric transducer, stacked piezoelectric ceramic, Mason model, controlled-source, PSPICE

In many underwater acoustical applications, electromechanical systems are often composed of a group of identical piezoelectric ceramic segments that are interconnected mechanically in series and electrically in parallel[1] so as to produce reinforced mechanical motion for high-power sound generation. In an air backed Langevin type transducer construction application, some practical consideration is in demand[2], e.g. the head mass is constructed as an alignment shank on the ceramic end and a large flat radiation surface to attain a large radiating loading in the water medium, the tail mass is configured as a horn structure to reduce the transmission power in the air medium

Received December 3, 2005; accepted September 27, 2006 doi: 10.1007/s11433-007-0008-z Corresponding author (email: ycchen@mail.tf.edu.tw)

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Sci China-Phys Mech Astron | Feb 2007 | vol. 50 | no. 1 | 87-96

and a precompression stress bolt to bolt the parts together so as to yield the high-efficiency and high-power transmitting capability. For practical applications, electrical equivalent circuits for Langevin type transducers have been the subject of most researches[3 6] because the electrical measurements are readily utilized for the evaluation of the electromechanical parameters. In this research, an electromechanical equivalent circuit based on the Mason model is proposed as an analogy to electromechanical characteristics of stacked-segment transducers. By providing an equivalent circuit to model the Langevin type transducer, the Mason model for the transducer vibrating in the thickness mode is utilized to represent the ceramic segments, and the mechanical T network based on the Mason model serves to represent head mass. Referring to the Newtons law and network theorem, an equivalent circuit for the mechanical horn system is derived to model the tail mass. The PSPICE[7,8] (Personal-computer Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) model of the electric equivalent circuit is developed to facilitate the analysis and improve ones understanding of the behavior of the Langevin type transducer. Since the thickness of bonding materials is less than 1/500 of the ultrasonic wavelength of the resonance transducer and the mechanical impedance of the bonding materials is much less than one tenth of that of piezoelectric ceramics, the effect of the bonding materials[9,10] is negligible in the development of the transducers equivalent circuit. For the same reason, the equivalent network of the silver electrodes on the piezoelectric ceramics is also ignored in the transducers models. While the transducer is constructed completely, an AC signal is applied to the ceramic segments to stimulate a Langevin type transducer, which depends on different mass loadings and stiffeners associated with the mass material, to assist the satisfactory operation[2,4,11].

1 Transducer modeling
Figure 1 illustrates a Langevin type transducer which is composed of eight-segment ring piezoelectric ceramics cascaded with head metal and tail metal on each end. The equivalent network of a ring-type piezoelectric ceramic can be represented by Mason[3] model as shown in Figure 2. The parameters are defined as follows: Z0 L Z a = Z b = jZ 0 tan C , Zc = j , (1) 2 sin LC

Z0 = DCVC AC ,

VC

(2)

Figure 1 Langevin transducer. 88 CHEN YeongChin et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | February 2007 | vol. 50 | no. 1 | 87-96

Figure 2 Mason circuit of piezoelectric ceramic vibrating in the thickness mode.

1

C0 =

AC
S LC 33

D 2 C33 VC = ,

(3) (4)

and N = C0 h33 ,

where Z1, Z2 is mechanical impedance of an segment, LC is length of each segment, Z0 is acoustical characteristic impedance of ceramic, DC is density of ceramic, VC is longitudinal velocity of propagation, AC is cross-sectional area of ceramic, is longitudinal wave number, is angular frequency, V is electrical potential applied to the transducer, R0 is dielectric loss resistance, C0 is
S is dielectric longitudinally clamped capacitance, N is electromechanical transformation ratio, 33 D impermeability, C33 is elastic stiffness, h33 is piezoelectric coefficient.

The longitudinal acoustic wave at the end of the Langevin type transducer is transmitted to the horn. The horn has a conical shape, as shown in Figure 3. The impedance at the output end is twice larger than that at the input end due to the reduced area. This configuration can provide the reduced impedance at the air end and make most of the acoustical energy transmit to the head.

Figure 3 The tapered horn.

Referring to Newtons second law, the longitudinal vibration of a horn[12,13] gives the following differential wave equation:
2u 1 s u + + 2 u = 0. 2 s y y y S(y) is the position-dependent cross sectional area, shown as
CHEN YeongChin et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | February 2007 | vol. 50 | no. 1 | 87-96

(5)

89

S ( y ) = S0

2 RX 2 R1t

= S0 (1 y ) 2 ,

(6)

where S0 is the cross sectional area at the input end, = ( M 1) /( M Lt ) is the taper constant, Lt is
t is the radius ratio, = / a is the wave number, the length of the tapered horn, M = R1t / R2

= 2f , and a is the velocity of sound in the material.

Therefore, the force and velocity for the tapered horn[12,13] were obtained:
F1t S11 t = F2 S21
t Zc S12 V1t ( Z a + Z c ) V1 = . t t ( Z b + Z c ) S22 V2 Zc V2

(7)

Eq. (7) can be used to derive a T-type equivalent circuit for the tapered horn, shown as in block B of Figure 2, which would provide the relationship between input and output mechanical quantities (i.e. force and velocity), where Za, Zb and Zc are the impedance parameters, V1 and F1 are input velocity and force, and V2 and F2 are the output velocity and force. The impedance parameters of the tapered horn[10 13] can be determined as follows: Z at = j
t Zb =j

Zm M sin( Lt ) , 1 M cos( Lt ) M sin( Lt ) Zm 1 1 M sin( Lt ) M Z ct = j

(8) (9) (10)

M cos( Lt ) + sin( Lt ) ,
Zm . M sin( Lt )

Note that the theoretical impedance parameters obtained above are all imaginary due to the assumption that there is no loss in the tapered horn. Since the head mass of the transducer is in a rectangle shape, the impedance parameters of head mass can be calculated from eqs. (8)(10) with
t = 1 and taper constant = ( M 1) /( M Lt ) = 0. radius ratio M = R1t / R2

2 PSPICE model development of transducers element

Since a great deal of mathematical deduction of the effective compliance and mass was required to estimate resonance frequency ( fs), anti-resonance frequency ( fp) and effective coupling coefficient (ke)[14], an analogous circuit and PSPICE model for the Langevin type transducer was proposed to facilitate the analysis of the frequency response. A Langevin type transducer with brass as tail and aluminum as head was taken as an example to describe the PSPICE simulation procedure. The equivalent circuit of Langevin type transducer is shown in Figure 4, where the active segments are individually analogous to the equivalent circuit of a Mason model in the thickness-vibration mode, and the tail (brass) and head (aluminum) parts are analogous to the T network of the mechanical circuit in a Mason circuit. To increase the simulation precision, the effects of the electrode layers, the adhesive layers and the compressive bias stress caused by bolting are experimentally included in the equivalent material constants of the effective ceramic rings[15]. The effective material parameters and symbols of the stacked ceramic used in Figure 4 are the same as those in eqs. (1)(4) and eqs. (8)(10), where the mode of active material (piezoelectric ceramics) is considered as longitudinal but the
90 CHEN YeongChin et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | February 2007 | vol. 50 | no. 1 | 87-96

passive elements (head and tail mass) are as close to the thickness mode. The PSPICE model of the analogous circuit is described in detail as follows.

Figure 4 PSPICE circuit for a practical Langevin type transducer.

2.1

Electromechanical transformer circuit

The electromechanical transformer circuit shown in block A of Figure 2 is modeled by the controlled source[16] method, as shown in Figure 5, and the PSPICE code is given below: ******PSPICE CODE OF ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSFORMER CIRCUIT********** .SUBCKT XTRANS T1 T2 PARAMS N={0.94} G 0 T1 VALUE = {I(VS)*N} VS T2 3 DC 0 E 3 0 VALUE= {V(T1)*N} .ENDS ******************************************************************************
2.2 T- type network of mechanical impedance for the tapered horn

The mechanical impedance of the tapered horn is transferred to a Laplace format and the controlled source method[17,18] of PSPICE is implemented to realize this model, as shown in Figure 6, where the Laplace format of the impedance Z at is
Zm M j sin( Lt ) 1 M cos( Lt ) Za M sin( Lt ) k L{Z a } = S= S. j j
1

(11)

Applying = ( S 2 ) 2 and =

, then a
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Figure 5 PSPICE model of electromechanical transformer circuit.

Figure 6 PSPICE model of the T-type network.

1 L Z m S 1 M cos ( S 2 ) 2 t a L{Z a } = 1

1 M a 2 2 Lt sin ( ) S 1 a ( S 2 ) 2

1 L ( S 2 ) 2 M sin ( S 2 ) 2 t a

(12)

and similarly, 1 Z m S 1 M L{Z b } = 1 2 2 Lt cos ( ) S a

1 2 2 ( S ) 1 MVc 2 2 Lt sin ( ) S + 1 a ( S 2 ) 2

1 2 2 Lt M sin ( S ) a

(13)

( S 2 ) 2 Z m (14) . L{Z c } = 1 2 2 Lt SM sin ( S ) a The taper horn impedance can be applied to a rectangle mass as head mass, in the case that the taper
t of the horn is reduced to zero, when radius ratio = M = R1t / R2 = 1, and taper constant

= = ( M 1) /( M Lt ) = 0. The impedance illustrated in eqs. (12)(14) can be deduced in laplacian form as

1 ( S 2) 2 i Lh Z m i tan 2i a h = L{Z a } = 1

L{Z at }M =1, =0

i S ,

(15)

( S 2 ) 2 and similarly,

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t L{Z b }M =1, =0

1 2 2 ( S ) i Lh Z m i tan 2i a h = L{Z b } = 1

i S ,

(16)

( S 2 ) 2
1

( S 2 ) 2 i Z m L{Z ct }M =1, = 0 = L{Z ch } = . 1 2 2 ( S ) i Lh S isin a The PSPICE code of mechanical T-type network is represented as follows:

(17)

******* PSPICE CODE OF MECHANICAL T TYPE NETWORK ************* .SUBCKT XT_net B T H PARAMS: D={8.9E3} A={*(20E-3)2} Va={3.5E3} Lt={45E-3} +M={20E-3/11E-3} .PARAM Zm={D*Va*A1} B={(M-1)/(M*Lt)} RCm B 2 1E-6 VCm 2 3 DC 0 ECm 3 4 LAPLACE {I(Vcm)} = +{SQRT(-S*S)*Zm/(S*M*SIN(SQRT(-+S*S)*Lt/Va))} RLt 4 5 1E-6 VLt 5 6 DC 0 ELt 6 T LAPLACE {I(VLt)} = +{Zm*S/(SQRT(-S*S)*M* +SIN(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va))*(1-(M*COS(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va)+B*M*Va*SIN(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va)/SQRT(-S*S)))} RLh 4 7 1E-6 VLh 7 8 DC 0 ELh 8 H LAPLACE {I(VLh)} = +{Zm*S/(SQRT(-S*S)*M* +SIN(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va))*(1-(COS(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va)+ +B*M*Va*SIN(SQRT(-S*S)*Lt/Va)/SQRT(-S*S))/M)} .ENDS *************************************************************************
2.3 Transducer circuit of Mason model

The Mason circuit in Figure 2 is described by electrical and mechanical portions linked with a transformer to convert the electrical voltage and mechanical force. The capacitances (Co and Co ) are described by frequency-domain device models of analog behavior modeling[19]. The subcircuit of the transformer (SUBCKT XTRANS) and the mechanical T network (SUBCKT XT_net) are adopted and expressed as X1 and X2 in this PSPICE model, as follows:
***************** PSPICE CODE OF MASON CIRCUIT ********************** .SUBCKT XMA E MT MH PARAMS C0={790E-12 } R0 E 0 1E9 VC0 E 2 DC 0
CHEN YeongChin et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | February 2007 | vol. 50 | no. 1 | 87-96 93

RC0 2 3 1E-6 EC0 3 0 LAPLACE {I(VC0)} = {1/(1*S*C0)} RC1 E 4 1E-6 VC1 4 5 DC 0 EC1 5 6 LAPLACE {I(VC1)} = {-1/(1*S*C0)} X1 6 7 XTRANS PARAMS N={N} X2 7 MT MH XT_net PARAMS D={Dc} A={Ac} Va={Vc} Lt={Lc} M={1} .ENDS *****************************************************************************

3 Discussion and conclusions

When the Langevin type transducer operates in air, as shown in the shadow area of Figure 4, the PSPICE simulated results are listed in Table 1, which are the fs, fp and ke characteristics of the transducer with different metal material but the same dimension compared with the measured data. In underwater applications, the transducer is encapsulated in polyurethane to be water-resistant while it acts as a projector in the water medium. The thickness of polyurethane layer is Lpu = 5 mm in front of the head mass which has a radiation surface of Apu = 4.7310-3 mm2. The effect radiation impedance is described to be a real resistance for the light media such as air, but for a dense medium such as water, the decrease in resonance frequency from the presence of the radiation mass of water medium may be quite marked. The radiation impedance (Zr) of a baffled piston in water can be described[20] as Zr = a2oR1(2ka) + ja2o X1 (2ka), where R1(x) = 1 X1(x) = 2 J1 ( x) x2 x4 = 2 4 + x 2 1!2! 2 2!3!
,

(18) (19)

4 x x3 x5 2 + 2 2 3 3 5 3 5 7

2 a =

a =

S S Apu

(20)

where = / w , w is wave velocity in water and a is radius of radiation surface.

Table 1 The fs, fp and ke of the Langevin transducer with different metal material but the same dimensiona) Tail mass Al = 90.3 g Al = 90.3 g Al = 90.3 g St = 265.4 g St = 265.4 g St = 265.4 g Br = 278.5 g Br = 278.5 g Br = 278.5 g 8 stacks Head mass Al = 120.7 g St = 363.9 g Br =388.7 g Al = 120.7 g St = 363.9 g Br = 388.7 g Al = 120.7 g St = 363.9 g Br = 388.7 g 8s = 156.7 g fs (kHz) 13.64 11.512 10.497 11.875 9.99 8.83 11.46 9.192 8.54 34.94 fp (kHz) 14.38 12.237 10.86 12.89 11.15 9.482 12.38 9.99 9.12 41.716 Measured data ke fs (kHz) 0.317 13.543 0.339 11.513 0.256 10.386 0.389 11.759 0.444 9.838 0.364 8.761 0.382 11.4 0.392 9.225 0.351 8.632 0.546 35.17 Simulation data fp (kHz) ke 14.34 0.329 12.31 0.354 10.984 0.325 12.729 0.383 11.128 0.467 9.365 0.353 12.313 0.378 10.09 0.405 9.263 0.363 41.812 0.541

a) Al: aluminum; St: steel 316; Br: brass; fs: resonance frequency; fp: anti-resonance frequency; ke: effective coupling factor.

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Figure 7 is the impedance response of the projector, which exhibits a electrical impedance Zin 1.7 k and a impedance phase P(Zin) 55 at resonance frequency around 9.5 kHz. To improve the electrical efficiency and adjust the input impedance to around 600 , a transmitting and receiving circuit (T/R switch) is added (shown in Figure 4) to tune the impedance magnitude Zin = 600 10% and the impedance phase P(Zin)= 1010 (shown in Figure 8) at resonance frequency.

Figure 7 Electrical impedance of Langevin transducer in water without T/R switch circuit.

Figure 8 Electrical impedance of Langevin transducer in water with T/R switch circuit.

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PSPICE is a powerful software used for electric circuit design and analysis. Knowledge of the equivalent electric circuit for the transducer enables the design of an appropriate power amplifier, the matching transformer and the prediction of transducer performance. The PSPICE model of the electromechanical transducer is verified by the experimental results, and is a convenient method for analyzing the resonance characteristic of a Langevin type transducer. The element values in the equivalent circuit are dependent on the material and the mechanical construction. The precompression stress and bolt rod dimension are kept all the same for every specimen. The convenient method to determine the element values is proposed to help the simulation effectively. This simulation model offers a method of simplifying the transducer design, further facilitating the analysis of impedance-matching layers[21,9] for broad-bandwidth application, and tuning the inductance for improving transmitting efficiency[22] and even for array performance simulation.
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