3D Printing of PZT Piezoelectric Transducer Elements

Lead zirconium titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramic transducer elements are fabricated via an additive manufacturing approach. Commercially available PZT powder is compounded with a polymer binder to make a PZT filled polymer filament. This filament is then fed into a commercial off-the-shelf desktop 3D printer to additively manufacture green (i.e., unfired) disc preforms. The printed preform parts are pressed into dense discs and sintered to full density for comparison to conventionally processed discs of the same composition. The properties of the sintered discs prepared by both methods are similar and meet or exceed the manufacturer specifications for this composition.