Characteristic Vibrational Modes of Piezoceramic Plates with Variable Thicknesses

The paper considers characteristic oscillations of finite round piezoceramic plates of variable thicknesses, with convex and concave surfaces. Characteristic oscillation spectra of these plates were studied in the regimes of resonance and antiresonance, and the dynamic coefficient of electro-mechanical coupling was calculated as a function of plate dimensions and displacement distribution over the surface. Improvements in the characteristics of thickness oscillations in the plates (the possibility of increasing the coefficient of electro-mechanical coupling and smoothing the distribution of the normal displacement component over the plate surface) owing to variable thicknesses of piezoceramic plates have been analyzed. This can be achieved only in plates with convex conical surfaces, whereas concave conical surfaces of plates lead to inferior characteristics of thickness oscillations. Improvements in characteristics of thickness oscillations in piezoelectric plates fabricated from ceramics with various compositions will be discussed.