A broadband omnidirectional barrel-stave flextensional transducer

The piezoelectric Class III barrel-stave flextensional transducer is an und erwater acoustic source that is capable of generating sound over a wide fre quency band. This broadband performance is achieved through coupling the fu ndamental flexural and longitudinal modes of vibration. Near the low freque ncy flexural resonance, the Class III transducer is small compared to a wav elength, and its radiation is omnidirectional. However, at frequencies in t he vicinity of the longitudinal resonance, the radiation is directional. In this article, we show through the use of a finite element model that the C lass III transducer can be designed for omnidirectional radiation over the entire band.