Experimental, Modal, and Harmonic Response Analysis of a Chladni Plate at Ultrasonic Frequencies

Abstract

Mode shapes and natural frequencies of mechanical structures can be determined with the Chladni approach. Visual patterns are generated on the Chladni plate if it is exposed to vibrations. These patterns are known as Chladni patterns/figures. Mechanical vibrators are used to excite the plates at particular frequencies for pattern generation, but based on the making and application, their range is limited up to 10 kHz. Piezoelectric transducers are a special kind of transducers that are capable of generating ultrasonic frequencies and if are attached to a plate, intricate visual patterns can be generated, based on the material properties and the shape of the plate. The current research focuses on experimenting with and simulating Chladni figures in the ultrasonic frequency range. The simulations were performed in ANSYS Workbench as a validation of the experimental work.