Scaling considerations for additive manufacturing of textured piezo-ceramics for acoustic transduction

Textured piezo-ceramics opened the door to an expanded design space for acoustic transducers by shifting from a random microstructure to one that is highly aligned with respect to important crystallographic orientations. This alignment results in substantial increases in critical parameters such as displacement, coupling, and voltage sensitivity. On a laboratory scale, this is easily achieved via tape casting. However, scaling to large quantities, large parts, and complex geometries is limited by this approach. Additive manufacturing presents an opportunity to impact production speed as well as part shape and geometry. We will present a comparison of conventional tape casting technology to additive manufacturing, with a focus on direct ink write technology and its benefits. The ability to produce high texture fractions, achieve performance equivalent to tape casting, and create shapes such as hemispheres and cylinders will be discussed in comparison to conventional ceramic processing technology. The potential uses of this technology in a manufacturing environment will also be addressed for both textured and conventional piezo-ceramics.