Numerical Time Domain Modeling of Piezoelectric Transducers/ Sensors and Ultrasonic Wave Phenomena with the Piezoelectric Finite Integration Technique (PFIT)

Today, the applications of piezoelectric materials in transducers/sensors are widespread, e. g., in pulse-echo systems in nondestructive testing (NDT) or medical imaging (sonography) with ultrasound. The goal of this work is to derive a numerical modeling tool for the development and optimization of piezoelectric transducers/sensors, and/or to get a deeper understanding of the wave propagation in piezoelectric materials applying computer simulations [1,2]. The piezoelectric effect is a linear effect and couples the governing equations of electromagnetics and elastodynamics [3,4]