Finite Element Modelling of Flexural Plate Devices

A two dimensional finite element model has been developed for the simulation of a layered flexural plate wave device using the ANSYS package. The simulated device consists of a 2.0 μm silicon nitride thin film, followed by a 0.4 μm aluminum ground layer. A 0.6 μm zinc oxide piezoelectric layer was defined to excite acoustic waves. Good agreement of device frequency response and displacement profiles have been achieved in comparison with other numerical simulation methods. In this paper, the finite element (FE) method is proposed as a benchmark for an alternative analysis based upon a Green's function method. Furthermore, the FE method can be used to obtain other device parameters, such as insertion loss and charge density, which are presented