A FINITE-ELEMENT EQUIVALENT BOND GRAPH MODELING APPROACH WITH APPLICATION TO THE PIEZOELECTRIC THICKNESS VIBRATOR

A bond graph modeling approach that is equivalent to a finite-element method is formulated. This formulation leads to a new definition of th e generalized displacements for a continuous system. The newly defined coordinates are easily interpreted physically and easily used in anal ysis of the system performance. The new bond graph modeling approach i s applied to the piezoelectric thickness vibrator. Compared to the Mas on equivalent circuit model, the bond graph model offers the primary a dvantage of physical realizability. Compared to circuit models based o n standard discrete electrical elements, the main advantage of the bon d graph model is a greater physical accuracy because of the use of mul tiport energic elements. While results are presented here for the thic kness vibrator, the modeling method presented is general in scope and can be applied to arbitrary physical systems.