Optimizing mechanical quality factor of cymbal transducer

Abstract

In general, high mechanical quality factor 'Q(m),' which is the indication of low loss, is a desired property for transducers. However, low Q(m) and wide bandwidth are desired properties for underwater transducer. Therefore, the Q(m) values and bandwidth should be optimized to achieve better underwater acoustic performance. Cymbal transducer has the highest figure of merit as a hydrophone and very good performance as a projector. However, Q(m) of the standard cymbal transducer is rather high. In this investigation, cavities beneath the endcaps of the cymbal transducer were partially filled with polymeric media to optimize Q(m) and bandwidth. All the calculations were performed with ATILA FEM code. Initial results showed that the Q(m) of the cymbal transducer can be tuned to the desired value by filling the cavity with beneath the endcaps.