Large area piezoelectric composite arrays from distorted reticulated ceramics

Lead zirconate-titanate (PZT)/epoxy composite hydrophones with 3-3 connectivity have been fabricated by embedding reticulated PZT ceramics in an epoxy matrix. Previous work has shown that the hydrostatic properties of these composites can be improved by distorting the ceramic structure from a nearly isotropic network of PZT ligaments toward a highly oriented, laterally reinforced 1-3 configuration. Composites fabricated with Spurr epoxy exhibit good pressure stability and a moderate hydrostatic figure of merit of ≈1000×10^-15 Pa^-1. These composite elements have been incorporated into a conformable array which displays similar performance. Techniques have been developed which allow incorporation of the composite into an array configuration which is easily scaleable to production levels and/or large area panels. In addition, other composite configurations that are more sensitive but less pressure stable can be used as array elements so that performance may be tailored to a particular application