Periodic Cellular Piezoelectric Sensors and Actuators for Frequency Based Wave Steering

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The objective of the proposed research is the investigation, development, optimization, manufacturing and testing of a completely novel class of actuators and sensors for structural health monitoring (SHM). Periodic cellular configurations are proposed as effective means to provide actuators and sensors with strong, frequency dependent directional characteristics, which allow beam steering to occur through a simple sweep of the excitation frequency. Beam steering is achieved by exploiting interference phenomena generated by the periodicity of the array and the simultaneous actuation of its components. Such interference phenomena produce waves with frequency dependent directional characteristics which allow scanning of an area or volume, as well as focusing of the acoustic energy through a simple frequency sweep. This concept introduces a paradigm shift in the design of actuators and sensors for ultrasonic and guided wave inspection. Major reduction in hardware complexity will allow small and micro packaging of sensors/actuators, whose application can be extended well beyond the filed of SHM.