Simulation of a New Developed PEA Cell for Flat Specimens and Full-Size Cables

In this work, a new PEA cell configuration recently proposed by Zahra et al has been implemented in a PEA cell simulation software previously developed by the authors. In addition, in the present paper, an in-depth analysis of the acoustic wave behavior within the PEA cell has been carried out. In the new PEA cell, the metallic ground electrode is replaced by a polymeric acoustic coupler, while the absorber made of the same material of the piezoelectric sensor is replaced by a metallic block. Thanks to these changes, the sensitivity is increased by a factor of four compared to the traditional PEA cell. This constitutes a very interesting advantage provided the new PEA cell configuration, especially for space charge measurements in full-size cables. Based on the above, the aim of the present work is to evaluate if the developed PEA cell simulation software is able to simulate the new PEA cell configuration and, in turn, evaluate if the simulation results confirm the advantages of the new PEA cell. For a complete study, a comparison of the acoustic waves behavior and of the PEA cell output signals for both traditional and new PEA cells, has been made.