Additive Manufacturing and Qualification of an Active Piezoelectric Transducer in an Ocean‐depth Environment With Practical Application

ABSTRACT Additive manufacturing (AM) of piezoelectric ceramics has recently enabled the fabrication of complex transducer geometries with tailored electromechanical properties, addressing longstanding limitations of conventional manufacturing methods. In this study, we report the development, qualification, and ocean‐depth testing of an active piezoelectric transducer fabricated via lithography‐based ceramic printing using a custom Pb1.0[Zr0.56Ti0.44O3] (DoD Type VI) slurry. Systematic optimization of slurry composition and printing parameters yielded piezoelectric structures with a mean charge coefficient (d 33 ) of 706 pC/N and relative dielectric constant of 3477, both exceeding tabulated values for bulk material. A comparison of acoustic performance between additively manufactured (AM) and injection‐molded (IM) 1–3 piezocomposite transducers demonstrates agreement within 2 dB across a 1–401 kHz bandwidth. Hydrostatic pressure testing to 68.9 MPa confirms the robustness of the AM transducer when operating in an ocean environment. A Gaussian‐aperture transducer, designed for AM, is fabricated and shown through measurement to achieve a main lobe beamwidth of 8.9°, and a sidelobe attenuation factor of −34 dB, closely matching finite element predictions. These results demonstrate that AM is a viable solution for rapid prototyping of high‐performance, application‐specific piezoelectric transducers for use in operational environments.