Cost-Effective Method for Synthesizing Innovative Transducer Materials for Senors and Actuators

1-3 type piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composites have demonstrated performance advantages in Navy sensor an dactuator applications, and their benefits in commercial acoustic imaging applications are well understood. At present, applications for these innovative transducer materials are limited by the lack of a cost-effective manufacturing technology for composite assembly. To realize more widespread application, these materials must become available in both manufacturing and prototyping quantities at acceptable cost. Under separate Navy funding, MSI has developed a low cost injection molding process for large scale piezocomposite manufacturing. The availability of a shape-versatile, low cost tooling technology to complement this process would make new designs possible, and allow the performance of these materials to be optimized through rapid composite design verification. In addition, the low cost tooling would facilitate short-run manufacturing of these materials for specialty applications in both the defense and commercial sectors. In Phase I, MSI will design and demonstrate a new tooling concept aimed at facilitating the synthesis and application of composite transducer materials. This tooling technology will allow injection molding tools to be produced for approximately one-tenth of the cost of conventional tooling. The approach will utilize the existing MSI injection molding process for forming the PZT element array prior to composite assembly. At the end of Phase 1, the basic tooling approach will have been verified through fabrication of an advanced 1-3 piezocomposite, enabling the technology to be refined and applied in Phase 2 for fabrication of testable devices and utlimately in manufacturing quantities.