An optimization design strategy of 1-3 piezocomposite ultrasonic transducer for imaging applications

Abstract An optimization design strategy based on finite element method (FEM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is developed to fabricate high-performance 1–3 piezocomposite ultrasonic transducer. In this strategy, the structure and performance of ultrasonic transducer are simulated by FEM based PZFlex software to analyze the effect of design parameters (ceramic volume fraction and kerf width) on its performance. Due to the time-consuming of FEM simulation, based on the data obtained by simulations, artificial neural network models are established to describe the mapping relation of the design parameters and performance parameters (center frequency and high electromechanical coupling coefficient). The multi-objective optimization criterion is constructed for ultrasonic transducer, and then the modified PSO algorithm are adopted to optimize design parameters. According to the optimized design parameters, the FEM simulation and experiment are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the developed strategy. The simulation and experiment results are in agreement with the designed performance, which indicates that the developed strategy can be used to optimize design parameters for fabricating high-performance ultrasonic transducer. In addition, the imaging experiments of tungsten wires and RMB coin prove the high imaging performance of the ultrasonic transducer fabricated by the developed strategy.