How does a piezoelectric ceramics sensor work and advantages of piezoelectric ceramics?

What is a piezoelectric ceramics?

Piezo ceramics ultrasonic sensor is a device that uses the piezoelectric effect to measure the electromotive force caused by the mechanical force applied to the piezoelectric material. They are based on the principle of electromechanical energy conversion, mainly measuring force by converting the acquired data into electric charge, as well as other quantities such as pressure, acceleration, temperature, and strain.

Piezoelectric ceramics transducers are mostly used for flexible motion, touch, vibration and shock measurement. They can be used in many fields such as medical treatment, aerospace, consumer electronics and nuclear instruments. Piezoelectric ceramics are important because vibration and shock shorten the life of electronic and electromechanical systems, which means that fragile leads and bonding wires tend to be stressed. Due to shock and pulse shock, intermittent failures of the system may occur.

How does a piezoelectric sensor work?

The working principle of piezoelectric sensor is piezoelectric effect. Piezoelectric originated, which literally means squeeze or press. As the latter implies, we are squeezing the quartz crystal to generate voltage. Therefore, the working principle of the piezoelectric ceramics sensor is to apply mechanical energy to the pzt crystal piezo ceramics piezoelectric sensor. The specific steps are as follows.

1. The piezoelectric crystal is placed between two metal plates. The two metal plates are usually in perfect balance (even if they are not arranged symmetrically) and will not conduct any current.

2. The metal plate exerts mechanical stress or force on the material to force the charge in the crystal to lose balance. Excessive negative and positive charges appear on the opposite side of the pzt crystal surface.

3. The metal plate collects these charges, which can be used to generate voltage and send current through the circuit-converted into piezoelectric.

When it is determining the piezoelectric effect, it is very important to understand the behavior of piezoelectric crystals. Piezoelectric ceramics sensors based on the piezoelectric effect which can work from transverse, longitudinal or shear forces, they are insensitive to electric fields and electromagnetic radiation. In a wide temperature range, its response is also very linear, so it is an ideal sensor suitable for harsh environments.

The advantages of piezoelectric ceramics sensors

High frequency response: This means that very rapidly changing parameters can be easily sensed.

High transient response: they can detect microsecond events and provide linear output.

High output: it can be measured in electronic circuits.

Small size and strong structure: This means they are easy to handle.