Calculation of the transient response of piezoelectric elements by analytical means is only possible for a small range of exciting functions for which simple Laplace transforms exist. Calculation tends to be tedious due to the large number of terms which must be evaluated. A method is presented by which the Laplace transformed three‐port model of a piezoelectric element is approximated by a discrete time system by application of thez‐transform. A recurrent time domain solution is developed and this is applied in the manner of a digital filter to a variety of exciting functions. The method has the advantage that the response to any real input can be evaluated and it is thus of considerable use in the testing of piezoelectric elements or the measurement of their physical properties in transient tests. Experimental results are presented which show that the technique is reliable and accurate.