Laminar array ultrasound transducer and system

A system for use in material testing which can be used on non-planar shapes and which is simple and inexpensive in construction. The system includes a layer of piezoelectric material sandwiched between and connected to a unified electrode and a plurality of excitable electrodes; and a structure, such as a Faraday structure-like unit which prevents electric or static fields from getting into or out of the structure and controls voltage potentials contained therein to be uniform, enclosing the ultrasonic transducer unit, and functions by maintaining a voltage potential on the electrodes and the piezoelectric material then pulling to the reference potential selected electrodes to generate a signal which excites the piezoelectric material so it generates a corresponding signal and then measuring the return signal generated by the piezoelectric material in response to a return signal from material being tested in response to the signal generated by the piezoelectric material. The signal generation process can be viewed as being reversed from the process used in the prior art in that the initial signal is generated by the unit of the present invention by pulling an electrode to the reference potential rather than by applying a high voltage pulse to the electrode.