A simple pre-stress estimating method of langevin transducers

A simple pre-stress estimate method of Langevin transducers is studied. The measurement setup consists of a capacitor, an impedance converter and a voltmeter. Based on the piezoelectric equation and the basic circuit theory, the mathematical expression between the pre-stress and the voltage across the capacitor is derived. The pre-stress level can then be calculated out of the measurement of the capacitor voltage. In order to evaluate the precision of this method, a force washer is used to measure the pre-stress of the Langevin transducer. The result shows the pre-stress level obtained from this method is 30-40% higher than the pre-stress level measured by the force washer. This method is simple and can be used to estimate the pre-stress of various Langevin transducers. The precision of this method can be raised if d33 is identified under different pre-stress levels.