1-3 Random Fiber Composites

Smart Material manufactures 1-3 composites using piezo ceramic fibers as active rods. PZT fiber composites are a cost-effective alternative compared to the Dice & Fill method.
1-3 fiber piezo composites are prepared by epoxy infiltration of fiber bundles and dicing of the cube-shaped blocks perpendicular to the direction of the fibers. This patented method is also called Arrange & Fill.

Using piezo ceramic fibers with 105µm, 250µm and 800µm diameters will yield fill factors of approx. 35%, 65% and 80% in a random distributed cross-section.

The random fiber composite material shows superior properties for ultrasound transduction, which is due to reduced acoustic impedance and high coupling factor. Additionally, 1-3 fiber composites with random element distribution yield an increased spurious mode suppression due to the random spacing.

Typical Ultrasound Applications for 1-3 Random Fiber Composites

• NDT, Non-Destructive Testing
• SONAR, single element transducer
• Air Ultrasound Transducer
• Flow Control and Measurement

Due to the Arrange & Fill production method the raw 1-3 fiber composite material are typically blocks of up to 10cm length and the lateral dimensions of the targeted element.

The A&F method also allows to machine 1-3 composites into various shapes and forms, in addition to slicing elements with the desired resonance frequency of the raw fiber block.

Plano-Concave This includes precise concave or convex contours for superior broadband ultrasound receiver applications.

The Arrange & Fill production method is easily scalable for volume quantities which also allows for short lead time, a major advantage over the commonly used Dice & Fill method.

Smart Material offers various standard Epoxy and Polyurethane systems as the interstitial material for its random fiber composites, often called filler. The different, available filler materials allow for operational temperatures between 95°C and 135°C.