High sensitive piezoelectric transducers for NDE air borne applications

We present work intended to help in the systematization of the manufacturing of piezoelectric transducers for NDT air coupling. Only the piezoelectric and passive materials, together with the construction techniques, are studied. A high driving signal method has been used to select the piezoelectric materials. Flat and spherically-shaped transducers from 500 kHz up to 2.5 MHz made of piezoceramics and 1-3 piezocomposites have been manufactured and tested. Highly porous materials have been used to match the transducers and the scanned structures.