Innovative Broadband Transducer Technologies

An innovative, compact, lightweight, broadband transducer for Navy surface combatants in littoral environments is presented. Broadband transducers can introduce difficult electrical driving conditions if the coupling coefficient is not sufficiently high. The proposed device uses a modified flextensional transducer design that yields both a high coupling coefficient and broadband low Q operation. The coupling coefficient and the acoustic broadband matching system may offer a new break-through in transducer designs. The transducer is based on the transducer spring of U.S. Patent 4,845,688. It is believed that this device is capable of greater wide band tuned operation than is currently available today and should reduce the number of different elements required for broadband operation.