High temperature ultrasonic transducer up to 1000 °C using lithium niobate single crystal

Structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques are needed to maintain the reliability of aging power plants. The high temperature transducers are necessary to realize SHM under the working condition of power plants. In this paper, a high temperature transducer was developed using lithium niobate (LiNbO3) single crystal, which is well known as a high Curie temperature piezoelectric material. The LiNbO3 was bonded onto a stainless steel substrate. The transducer was heated in an electric furnace while measuring the bottom echoes from the substrate. We confirmed that the high temperature transducer could work up to 1000 °C.