A circular cylindrical, radially polarized ceramic shell piezoelectric transformer

We propose a circular cylindrical shell piezoelectric transformer of radially polarized ceramics operating in thickness-stretch modes. Two theoretical analyses involving different approximations are performed on the proposed transformer using the 3-D equations of linear piezoelectricity. The transforming ratio, input admittance, and efficiency of the transformer are calculated and compared with those of a previously analyzed circular cylindrical shell transformer of axially polarized ceramics operating in shear modes.     

Theoretical modeling of a thickness-shear mode circular cylinder piezoelectric transformer

We propose a piezoelectric transformer operating with thickness-shear modes of a circular cylinder and perform a theoretical analysis on the transformer. An exact solution from the three-dimensional equations of piezoelectricity is obtained. The output voltage, input admittance, and efficiency of the transformer are determined. The basic behaviors of the transformer are shown by numerical results.     

压电陶瓷变压器的发展——回顾与展望

文章简要介绍了压电变压器的工作原理 ,给出了压电变压器几个重要工作特性的数学表达式 ,并对压电变压器的发展过程进行了简要的回顾。在此基础上 ,文章着重对压电变压器在研发过程中所涉及的五个方面的问题进行了详细的探讨与说明 ,作者讨论了压电变压器等效电路模型的改进措施及压电变压各个特性的研究状况 ,分析和对比了各种用于制作压电变压器的压电材料的优缺点及其性能的改进方法 ,探讨了各种振动模式作用于压电变压器的效果 ,总结了压电变压器的制作工艺及结构对其特性的影响效果 ,给出了压电变压器的具体应用的例子 ,并指出了压电变压器今后的发展方向及有待解决的问题     

Analysis of a rectangular ceramic plate in electrically forced thickness-twist vibration as a piezoelectric transformer

A rectangular ceramic plate with appropriate electrical load and operating mode is analyzed for piezoelectric transformer application. An exact solution from the three-dimensional equations of linear piezoelectricity is obtained. The solution simulates the real operating situation of a transformer as a vibrating piezoelectric body connected to a circuit. Transforming ratio, input admittance, and efficiency of the transformer are obtained.     

Multilayer modal actuator-based piezoelectric transformers

An innovative, multilayer piezoelectric transformer equipped with a full modal filtering input electrode is reported herein. This modal-shaped electrode, based on the orthogonal property of structural vibration modes, is characterized by full modal filtering to ensure that only the desired vibration mode is excited during operation. The newly developed piezoelectric transformer is comprised of three layers: a multilayered input layer, an insulation layer, and a single output layer. The electrode shape of the input layer is derived from its structural vibration modal shape, which takes advantage of the orthogonal property of the vibration modes to achieve a full modal filtering effect. The insulation layer possesses two functions: first, to couple the mechanical vibration energy between the input and output, and second, to provide electrical insulation between the two layers. To meet the two functions, a low temperature, co-fired ceramic (LTCC) was used to provide the high mechanical rigidity and high electrical insulation. It can be shown that this newly developed piezoelectric transformer has the advantage of possessing a more efficient energy transfer and a wider optimal working frequency range when compared to traditional piezoelectric transformers. A multilayer piezoelectric, transformer-based inverter applicable for use in LCD monitors or portable displays is presented as well.     

压电陶瓷变压器研究和发展现状

概述了压电陶瓷变压器的原理和分类，介绍了各种振动模式的压电陶瓷变压器，并重点叙述了两种电极设计精巧的压电陶瓷变压器，对体型和膜型压电陶瓷变压器的研究进展现状进行了分析。     

Modeling of piezoelectric transformers using finite‐element technique

Abstract

In this work, the modeling of piezoelectric transformers using the finite‐element technique is presented. A 3‐D finite element method solver, which employs 20‐node brick‐element formulation, is developed. Using the solver, the characteristics of piezoelectric transformers under different operating frequencies can be simulated. Also, the solver is capable of accounting for the effects of the electrical loadings attached to the output electrodes of piezoelectric transformers. The modeling results for two different types of piezoelectric transformers, the Rosen‐modal‐type and the unipoled‐disk‐type, are presented. For the Rosen‐modal‐type devices, the simulated voltage gains and the phase differences are validated with our measured results. Also, the simulated results of the unipoled‐disk‐type transformers agree with the measured results found in previously published literature. The effects of electrical loadings on these piezoelectric transformers are also discussed.     

Identification of material constants for piezoelectric transformers by three-dimensional,finite-element method and a design-sensitivity method

In this paper, an inversion scheme for piezoelectric constants of piezoelectric transformers is proposed. The impedance of piezoelectric transducers is calculated using a three-dimensional finite element method. The validity of this is confirmed experimentally. The effects of material coefficients on piezoelectric transformers are investigated numerically. Six material coefficient variables for piezoelectric transformers were selected, and a design sensitivity method was adopted as an inversion scheme. The validity of the proposed method was confirmed by step-up ratio calculations. The proposed method is applied to the analysis of a sample piezoelectric transformer, and its resonance characteristics are obtained by numerically combined equivalent circuit method.     

Modeling and analysis of circular flexural-vibration-mode piezoelectric transformer

We propose a circular flexural-vibration-mode piezoelectric transformer and perform a theoretical analysis of the transformer. An equivalent circuit is derived from the equations of piezoelectricity and the Hamilton's principle. With this equivalent circuit, the voltage gain ratio, input impedance, and the efficiency of the circular flexural-vibration-mode piezoelectric transformer can be determined. The basic behavior of the transformer is shown by numerical results.     

充液压电阻尼圆柱壳的有限元建模

基于Mindlin板理论、压电理论、粘弹性理论和理想流体方程，对充液圆柱壳主动约束阻尼结构在流固耦合条件下的建模进行了研究。利用拉格朗日方法得到结构的动力学方程，利用GHM方法描述粘弹性阻尼的本构关系，结合流体方程建立主动约束阻尼结构在流固耦合条件下的动力学方程。建立从压电材料的电压到流固耦合边界下的圆柱壳结构振动的频响函数，利用实验结果对理论计算加以验证，结果表明该建模方法是可行的。     

Finite element simulation of piezoelectric transformers

Piezoelectric transformers are nothing but ultrasonic resonators with two pairs of electrodes provided on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate in which electrical energy is carried in the mechanical form. The input and output electrodes are arranged to provide the impedance transformation, which results in the voltage transformation. As they are operated at a resonance, the electrical equivalent circuit approach has traditionally been developed in a rather empirical way and has been used for analysis and design. The present paper deals with the analysis of the piezoelectric transformers based on the three-dimensional finite element modelling. The PIEZO3D code that we have developed is modified to include the external loading conditions. The finite element approach is now available for a wide variety of the electrical boundary conditions. The equivalent circuit of lumped parameters can also be derived from the finite element method (FEM) solution if required. The simulation of the present transformers is made for the low intensity operation and compared with the experimental results. Demonstration is made for basic Rosen-type transformers in which the longitudinal mode of a plate plays an important role; in which the equivalent circuit of lumped constants has been used. However, there are many modes of vibration associated with the plate, the effect of which cannot always be ignored. In the experiment, the double resonances are sometimes observed in the vicinity of the operating frequency. The simulation demonstrates that this is due to the coupling of the longitudinal mode with the flexural mode. Thus, the simulation provides an invaluable guideline to the transformer design     

Vibration distribution in output sections of a piezoelectric transformer operating at thickness shear mode

In this study, the vibration distribution along the width direction in the output section of a piezoelectric transformer operating at the thickness shear vibration mode is investigated experimentally and theoretically. It is experimentally found that the vibration of output section has a spatial gradient and attenuates as the distance from the input section increases. A theoretical model is developed to estimate the vibration attenuation in the output section, which provides the guidelines of optimizing the transformer and explains some important phenomena such as the nonuniform temperature distribution in piezoelectric transformers. The larger the load resistance, the larger the vibration gradient is. At the resonant frequency, the vibration gradient decreases with increasing the width of the input or output section, and it changes little with the length and thickness of the transformer when the load resistance matches with the piezoelectric transformer. The vibration gradient increases with increasing the length or decreasing the thickness when the load resistance is constant, in which the load does not match with the transformer.     

Theoretical analysis of a ceramic plate thickness-shear mode piezoelectric transformer

We perform a theoretical analysis on a ceramic plate piezoelectric transformer operating with thickness-shear modes. Mindlin's first-order theory of piezoelectric plates is employed, and a forced vibration solution is obtained. Transforming ratio, resonant frequencies, and vibration mode shapes are calculated, and the effects of plate thickness and electrode dimension are examined.     

New equivalent lumped electrical circuit for piezoelectric transformers

A new equivalent circuit is proposed for a contour-vibration-mode piezoelectric transformer (PT). It is shown that the usual lumped equivalent circuit derived from the conventional Mason approach is not accurate. The proposed circuit, built on experimental measurements, makes an explicit difference between the elastic energies stored respectively on the primary and secondary parts. The experimental and theoretical resonance frequencies with the secondary in open or short circuit are in good agreement as well as the output "voltage-current" characteristic and the optimum efficiency working point. This circuit can be extended to various PT configurations and appears to be a useful tool for modeling electronic devices that integrate piezoelectric transformers.     

Analysis of rosen piezoelectric transformers with a varying cross-section

We study the effects of a varying cross-section on the performance of Rosen piezoelectric transformers operating with length extensional modes of rods. A theoretical analysis is performed using an extended version of a one-dimensional model developed in a previous paper. Numerical results based on the theoretical analysis are presented.     

High-power, multioutput piezoelectric transformers operating at the thickness-shear vibration mode

In this study, a piezoelectric transformer operating at the thickness shear vibration mode and with dual or triple outputs is proposed. It consists of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic plate with a high mechanical quality factor Qm and a size of 120 x 20 x 4 mm3. The PZT ceramic plate is poled along the width direction. The electrodes of input and output parts are on the top and bottom surfaces of the ceramic plate and separated by narrow gaps. A new construction of support and lead wire connection is used for the transformer. At a temperature rise less than 20 degrees C and efficiency of 90%, the piezoelectric transformer with dual outputs has a maximum total output power of 169.8 W, with a power of 129.5 W in one output and 40.3 W in another. The one with triple outputs has a maximum total output power of 163.1 W, with a power of 36.9 W in the first output, 13.0 W in the second output and 113.2 W in the third output. The maximum efficiency of the piezoelectric transformer with dual outputs and triple outputs is 98% and 95.7%, respectively. The voltage gains of the transformers are less than one, and different outputs have different gains. Also, there is a driving frequency range in which the load resistance of one output has little effect on the voltage gain of another output.     

Electrical and mechanical fully coupled theory and experimental verification of Rosen-type piezoelectric transformers

A piezoelectric transformer is a power transfer device that converts its input and output voltage as well as current by effectively using electrical and mechanical coupling effects of piezoelectric materials. Equivalent-circuit models, which are traditionally used to analyze piezoelectric transformers, merge each mechanical resonance effect into a series of ordinary differential equations. Because of using ordinary differential equations, equivalent circuit models are insufficient to reflect the mechanical behavior of piezoelectric plates. Electromechanically, fully coupled governing equations of Rosen-type piezoelectric transformers, which are partial differential equations in nature, can be derived to address the deficiencies of the equivalent circuit models. It can be shown that the modal actuator concept can be adopted to optimize the electromechanical coupling effect of the driving section once the added spatial domain design parameters are taken into account, which are three-dimensional spatial dependencies of electromechanical properties. The maximum power transfer condition for a Rosen-type piezoelectric transformer is detailed. Experimental results, which lead us to a series of new design rules, also are presented to prove the validity and effectiveness of the theoretical predictions.     

舰用变压器冲击响应计算

变压器是舰船电力系统的重要组成部分,其可靠性对于舰艇的生命力和战斗力有着非常重要的影响。利用ANSYS软件建立了某舰用变压器的有限元模型。通过对有限元模型进行结构振动模态分析,分析变压器的固有振型特性,验证模型的合理性。研究舰用变压器的冲击载荷,对变压器模型进行瞬态响应分析计算,得到变压器应力最大时刻和应力最大位置,并进行抗冲击载荷分析,有利于舰用变压器抗冲击性能的进一步研究。     

Finite element analysis on piezoelectric ring transformer

The use of a piezoelectric ring as transformer is reported and studied in this paper. By using a concentric electrode pattern, a ring-shaped transformer can be designed to operate at its high order extensional modes. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic rings with 12.7-mm outer diameter, 5.1-mm inner diameter and 1.2-mm thickness were used to fabricate the prototypes. Three-dimensional (3-D) finite element models are built to study and analyze the vibration characteristics of the piezoelectric transformers (PTs) using higher order modes (>3). The resonant frequencies, mean coupling effect, mode shapes, and other open-circuit characteristics are simulated and compared with experimental measurements. Prototypes of PTs using mode order three and four were fabricated and characterized. Good agreement can be obtained between experimental results and finite element model (FEM) simulations. The dimensions for the PTs using higher order symmetric extensional modes are optimized by FEM. To avoid mode coupling with the thickness mode, the ideal ring thickness has to be less than or equal to 0.6 mm. The ring PT offers advantages of simple structure and small size. It has a good potential in making low cost PT for low-voltage applications.     

Power density of piezoelectric transformers improved using a contact heat transfer structure

Based on contact heat transfer, a novel method to increase power density of piezoelectric transformers is proposed. A heat transfer structure is realized by directly attaching a dissipater to the piezoelectric transformer plate. By maintaining the vibration mode of the transformer and limiting additional energy losses from the contact interface, an appropriate design can improve power density of the transformer on a large scale, resulting from effective suppression of its working temperature rise. A prototype device was fabricated from a rectangular piezoelectric transformer, a copper heat transfer sheet, a thermal grease insulation pad, and an aluminum heat radiator. The experimental results show the transformer maintains a maximum power density of 135 W/cm(3) and an efficiency of 90.8% with a temperature rise of less than 10 °C after more than 36 h, without notable changes in performance.