LOW-FREQUENCY FLEXTENSIONAL TRANSDUCER WITH A PLANE RADIATING SURFACE

A low-frequency flextensional hydroacoustic transducer with a detachab le extended-duct shell is considered. The shell does not have segments of antiphase vibrations on the radiating surface. It consists of two channel-shaped elements whose ends are hinge-connected to the ends of a piezoelectric rod. A mathematical model of the vibrating system of t he transducer is built. A method of estimation of the transducer's ele ctromechanical and acoustical characteristics is developed, and an equ ivalent electromechanical circuit of the transducer is designed. The r eported quantitative data include the frequency dependencies of the me chanical impedance and specific acoustic power, the calculated quality factor, sound pressure profiles, and radiation patterns. In the range from several tens to hundreds of hertz, this plane flextensional tran sducer can serve as a basic design unit for power underwater sound sou rces with small wave dimensions.