Patent ID: 9618481
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: B01B,B06B,B23P,G01N,Y10T

Claim:
1. An ultrasonic transducer assembly useful for monitoring a component having a curved outer surface, the transducer comprising: a piezoelectric film having top and bottom surfaces, the film having a flexibility to conform to said curved outer surface and being oriented to excite and detect ultrasonic pulses in a direction orthogonal to the film bottom surface; top electrode adjacent to the top surface of the piezoelectric film to make the piezoelectric film able to act as an ultrasonic transducer in said direction orthogonal to the film bottom surface when a voltage is applied to said top electrode; a first electrical connector extending from the top electrode; a flexible insulating layer covering the top electrode and at least part of the first electrical connector, the insulating layer having a shape and size to substantially surround a section of a component to be monitored; and a clamp configured to apply at least a 0.2 MPa compressive stress on a region of the component, the clamp being aligned with the top electrode.