Theoretical and experimental investigation of traveling wave propagation on a several- millimeter-long cylindrical pipe driven by piezoelectric ceramic tubes

A novel method is presented for investigation of the traveling wave propagation generated on a thin film pipe with a short length of several millimeters. As a bridge to connect two piezoelectric ceramic (lead zirconate titanate, PZT) tubes, a thin-film metallic glass (TFMG) pipe is fabricated by a new technique of rotating magnetron sputtering. The vibrator combines the vibration of the axial mode of the PZT tube and the radial mode of the TFMG pipe. Theoretical analyses of the TFMG pipe and PZT tube, with a comparison of the finite element modeling, clarify the vibration characteristics so that the proper geometrical sizes, suitable boundary conditions, and driving voltage signals are designed. In the experiment, the designed vibrator was fabricated and the vibration characteristics were measured by a laser Doppler vibrometer system. The pure traveling wave propagation obtained theoretically and experimentally demonstrates the validity of this work. This study shows a new way to achieve a pure traveling wave on a short cylindrical pipe driven by PZT tubes.