title: Material selection for acoustic radiators that are light and stiff.
abstract: The headmass is a key element in tonpilz transducer design. As an acoustic radiator, a successful headmass must be built from a material that is both light and stiff. To assess the suitability of ceramics for this application, the authors used the mechanical properties of candidate materials to perform a theoretical comparison based on the flexural behavior of square plates. Although not a comprehensive metric for identifying the best headmass materials, the headmass flexure may be usefully employed as a first-level selection criteria. A software routine based on thin plate and thick plate theory was created to evaluate the flexural behavior in candidate materials.
authors.affiliation: Applied Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, P.O. Box 30, State College, Pennsylvania 16804, USA. scott.porter@psu.edu
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Markley
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Van Tol
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002516:Ceramics; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D008422:Materials Testing; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D018583:Pliability; D011312:Pressure; D012984:Software; D014159:Transducers; D014732:Vibration