Temperature-Dependent Electromechanical and Acoustic Responses of a Tubular PZT-5A Transducer: Finite-Element Modeling and Experimental Investigation

Temperature-induced variations in piezoelectric material properties can detune acoustic-logging transducers and alter their electrical, mechanical, and acoustic responses. This study establishes a temperature-dependent finite-element model of a tubular lead zirconate titanate (PZT-5A) transducer over 0–200 °C. Temperature-dependent dielectric, piezoelectric, and elastic parameters were implemented as constitutive functions. Frequency-domain impedance simulations were compared with impedance measurements over 20–200 °C, while transient fluid-loaded simulations and laser-vibrometry measurements were used to characterize the acoustic-pressure and vessel-wall vibration responses. The simulated resonant frequency decreased from 21.379 to 19.35 kHz, and the measured value decreased from 21.135 to 19.55 kHz. The simulated static capacitance increased from 18.8 to 81.0 nF, whereas the measured value increased from 23.7 to 93.0 nF. An isolated geometric-expansion sensitivity analysis indicated that omitted dimensional changes may partly account for this discrepancy. The fitted motional resistance decreased in both the simulations and experiments. The vessel-wall vibration-velocity squared integral decreased from 0.03483 to 0.0067mm2/s, and the simulated acoustic-pressure squared integral decreased from 2.14926 to 1.59839 Pa2·s. The frequency corresponding to the maximum sound-pressure spectrum also decreased from 22.644 to 21.607 kHz. The agreement in the principal temperature-dependent trends indicates that the model captures the dominant electromechanical behavior, while the remaining capacitance discrepancy highlights the influence of thermal deformation and other nonideal experimental factors. The proposed framework provides a basis for performance prediction and temperature compensation of piezoelectric transducers used in acoustic logging and other elevated-temperature acoustic systems.