Flexible Piezo Transducers find Applications in Structural Health Monitoring, Contouring, and Sound Cancellation

Piezo ceramics - like all ceramics - are brittle materials, very good at handling compressive loads, but sensitive to shear, bending, and tensile loads. To protect the piezo material from unwanted forces, several mechanical solutions have been developed over the years. One clever way is found in the patented laminate structure of the DuraAct patch transducers. These are composites of one or more thin piezoceramic plates equipped with electrodes, electrically insulated and mechanically pre-stressed by a polymer outer skin. Depending on the application, strands can be soldered, glued or clamped at two contact points. The patch transducer can even have separate sensor and actuator functionality by contacting several layers separately.