• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.444-449
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• 1998

A modal transducer in two-dimensional structure can be implemented by varying the distributed transducer's gain spatially. In this paper, a method based on finite element method is developed for optimizing spatial gain distribution of PVDF transducer to create the modal transducer for specific modes. Using this concept, one can design the modal transducer in two-dimensional structure having arbitrary geometry and boundary conditions. As a practical means for implementing this continuous gain distribution without repoling die PVDF film, the gain distribution is approximated by optimizing gain-weights of interface circuit. The whole spatial area of the PVDF film is divided into several electrode segments and the signals from each segment are properly weighted and summed by interface circuit. This corresponds to the approximation of a continuous function using discrete values. The electrode partition is optimized using the genetic algorithm. Gain-weights are optimized using the simplex search method. A modal sensor for first to fourth modes of aluminum plate is designed using PVDF film with gain-weighted interface circuit. Various lamination angles of PVDF film are taken into consideration to utilize the anisotropy of the PVDF film. Performance of the optimized' PVDF sensor is demonstrated by numerical simulations..