Received 21 May 1971 13.

11t

Twenty Years in Underwater Acoustics: Generation and

Reception

T. F. Huv•u-v•R

HoneywellInc., Marine SystemCenter,Seattle,Washington98107

Developmentin the art of transducerdesignand array configurationhas been spurredon mainly by two
motivating forces: (1) Extensiveresearchin underwater propagationhas establishedthe advantagesof
increasinglylower frequenciesfor long-rangedetectionand localizationof targetsand noisesources.(2) The
advent of new piezoelectricand structural materialsand of solid-stateelectronicdeviceshas led to sub-
stantial improvementsin transducerperformancewith regardto sensitivity,poweroutput, and depth of
submersion. Theory has kept abreastwith thesedevelopments, particularlyin handlinglarge arrayswith
their mutual impedanceproblems,in pointingto digital multibeamformingtechniques,and in revealing
the significanceof waveformdesignto detectionperformance.A few new conceptswere born and have
won acceptanceduring this period. These include: the generationof soundby hydroacousticmeans,the
employmentof compliantmetal tubes for acousticfocusingand reflection,the exploitationof structural
flexingmodesfor soundradiation, and the useof free-floodedcavity structuresas deepsubmergencesources.
As we continueto adapt our sourcesand receiversto the ocean'stransfer functions,noisepatterns, and
targets--false and true--there will be an increasingneed for fundamentalresearchinto the acousticproper-
ties of materialsand for field test of experimentalacousticdetectionsystems.

Looking back at the accomplishments--and also at of basicproblemsand challenges

in underwateracoustic
the struggles--ofthe past two decadesin the underwater generationand reception.x
acoustictransducerfield will help us to understandthe Many possibletransductionmechanisms,ranging
possibilitiesand limitationsof the presentstate-of-the- from solid state to chemical and mechanical, were
art, and to get a feeling for the rate at which further recommendedin 1950 for more systematic research.
progressmight take place. Two that showedearly signsof pregnancydid survive
Many of the innovationscurrently being made or these20 yearsasstrongcontributors to newengineering
planned in sonar were being "seeded" at M.I.T., solutions: namely, ferroelectric ceramics (Howart,
Harvard, Brown, or Cal Tech in the early 1950s,and, Jaffee,Mason?in the late forties) and hydroacoustics
if oneaddsan additionalfive to eightyearsof develop- (Bouyoucosthesis,June 1951,3 patent, April 1954).
ment for production prior to introduction of fleet By contrast,we nowview the very strongrecommenda-
equipment that is fully tested and evaluated, it all tions of the NRC report for a broad-basedresearch
totalsup to a gestationperiodof a quarterof a century. program in cavitation phenomenaas less visionary;
In terms of researchand developmentdollars, tours of actualsonarperformancehasbenefitedlittle from much
duty, administrations,fiscal policies,and shipbuilding of thiswork.The modernapproachis to sidestep,rather
cycles,thisamountsto a gooddealof change.It is thus than to overcome,the cavitation limitation of seawater.
apparent that much dependson the wisdom and fore- With regardto our ability to meetspecifications,
here
sightof thosewho are calledupon to prognosticateand is a typicalstatementin the 1950reportthat wouldraise
showthe way. an eyebrow in 1971: "... transducerperformance
In lookingback, then, we are searchingfor a milestone can usually be calculated reasonablywell. In most
mor a time capsule--whichmight have recordedthe cases,we can build transducerswhich perform within
state of affairs and the expectationsof the acoustic a few dB of theory, at least if sometrial and error is
physicistsand engineersaround 1950. In 1950, the allowed."
members of the Panel on Underwater Acoustics of the It has taken some pretty dedicatedpeople at the
National Research Council (NRC) stated their view Navy's transducerlaboratories--notablyNUC, San

The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1025

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 T. F. HUETER

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

PROPAGATION SIGNAL PROCESSING

lOWER SPATIAL
DEEPER TEMPORAL

TRANSDUCER
DESIGN
I
SOLID STATE
/ ACOUSTIC
fTHEORY COMPUTE R MODELS

TECHNICAL BASE

Fro. 1. Causativerelationshipsin transducerdesign.

Diego--and alsoin industry,to overcomethis cavalier example, new insightsinto the various modes of
attitude toward design prediction and production propagationof sound in the ocean supportedby
tolerance,and I will relate someof their resultslater. extensivefield work have pointed strongly to the
Many of the developmentsthat did take place, possibilityof acousticecho-rangingto much larger
and the problemsthat weresolved,duringthe past 20 distancesthan ever beforethoughtpossible.In order to
years in the area of underwateracousticsgeneration do this, however, sound frequenciesof increasingly
and receptionseem to have been set in motion by largerwavelengthswere shownto be necessary, and a
severalchallengespresentedto transducerscientistsand demandfor efficientlow-frequencytransducerelements
engineersfrom outsidetheir own discipline.Figure ! of substantialpower output developed.Much new
shows some of these causative relationships. For transducertechnologywas broughtinto beingthrough

VELOCITY, FPS

RANGE,
MILES OoO•OOOO
• • • o
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 q' q' q' • • •

1 ooc 1 ooo

Fro. 2. Deepsoundchannelpropagation
EfromM. EwingandJ. L. Worzel,"Long-Range
SoundTransmission,"
Geol.Soc.Amer.
Mem. 27, (1948)].

1026 Volume51 Number3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION AND RECEPTION

I wT>l .

RESOLUTION
TRANSMITTER
RANGE
[ANGLE RECEIVER
Fig. 3. Design areas affected by the time-
bandwidth product concept of information WAVEFORM BEAMFORMING CORRELATION
theory. CODING
ELEMENT
PROCESSING
ENERGY SPACING
GAIN
TRANSFER
AMBIGUITY
FUNCTIONS CLASSIFICATION
MATCHING

the research activities surrounding Project Artemis
then under way at ColumbiaUniversity.
From a closeranalysisof propagationpaths of the
type shown in Fig. 2, it also appearedadvantageous
to move sound sources and receivers
greater depth, particularly as the interest in bottom-
mountedacousticinstallationsdeveloped.Indeed, the
past two decadeshave been an era of technological
mastery of the deep ocean. Using new materials and
processes,much work has been accomplishedin solving
problems of pressure integrity and leak prevention,
mooring and recovery of deep sea packages,power
storage,and cable technology.
Another significant challenge to the transducer
people resulted from the advancesin sonar systems
engineeringthroughthe influenceof suchdisciplinesas
information theory and digital data processing.Al-
though the transducercontinuesto be essentiallyan
analogdevice,it has increasinglybeen called upon to
interfaceinto electronicsystemsbasedon digital tech-
nology.
During the past two decades,many percepts of
informationtheory found usefulin radar during World
War II have had a great impact on sonar.The signif-
icanceof the time bandwidthproductfor the processing
of complexunderwatersignalsled to increasingpressure
on transducerdesignersto provide not only for flat
receiving response,but also for broad transmitting re-
sponse.Also the conceptof an acousticreceivingarray
as a correlator,formulated in 1952 by Faran and Hills
at Harvard, presentedthe sonarsystemsengineerswith
entirely new beamformingpossibilities. 4
to locations at It was now possibleto trade spatial and temporal
characteristicsof an array; for example, one could
provide for sharperbeamsby using bandwidth rather
then by increasingarray size. Figure 3 summarizes
someof the payoff obtainedfrom applyingthe precepts
of information theory to transducer design--a point
that, strangely,was missedin the 1950 NRC report.
More bandwidth automatically meant higher cou-
pling coefficients,which put a premium on research
related to ferroelectriccrystals and ceramics.Much
new fundamentalwork was goingon in this area in the
late forties and early fifties--particularly at M.I.T.
under Mueller5 and Von Hippel. This was translated
quite rapidly into applicationsengineering--andlater,
production engineering--initially at such places as
Brush-Clevite, Gulton Industries, and the Bell Tele-
phoneLaboratories,followedby severalothersduring
the past 10 years.
A considerableart in designing,fabricating, and
testingferroelectricceramictransducershas comeinto
being during the past two decades.The perfectionof
the materialpropertiesinvolveda gooddealof molecular
engineering in whichadditiveswereintroducedto keep
electrical and mechanical losseslow, proceduresfor

TaBLv. I. Barium-titanate ceramics.

Loss
% % First Dielectric Planar tangent
BaTiOa Additives add. used constant coupling 2 kV/cm Characteristic features

100% None 0% 1946 1900 --0.36 0.050 High dielectric, temperature variations, time
variations, drive limitations
95% Calcium titanate 5% 1950 1200 --0.33 0.040 Improved stability
Calcium titanate
95% Cobalt
5% 1951 1000 --0.32 0.032 Reduced losses
0.3%
Lead titanate
80% Calcium titanate
12% 1954 400 --0.19 0.022 Filter applications
8%
Calcium titanate
95% Cobalt
5ø-/ø 1960 1300 --0.30 0.012 Highest drive capabilitiesof all barium titanates
0.75%

The Journal of the AcousticalSocietyof America 1027

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 T. F. HUETER

TABLE II. Lead-zirconate-titanate ceramics.

Loss '
Ceramic First Dielectric Planar tangent
type used constant coupling at 2 kV/cm Characteristic features

PZT-4 1955 1300 --0.52 0.019 High coupling,best for projector application, time variations more than
barium titanate, silveradhesioncan be a problem
PZT-5A 1958 1700 --0.60 0.114 Hydrophoneapplications,sensitiveto pressurecycles
PZT-5H 1958 3400 --0.65 0.114 Highestdielectricconstantand couplingof all titanates,goodtime stability
PZT-8 1964 1000 -- 0.50 0.006 Highest drive capabilitiesof all ceramics,stablewith time, temperature,
and pressure

electrodingand polarizingwereestablished, and casting, transducerdesignersin the area of array design to

pressingand aging techniqueswere developed. The meet new surveillance demands.
result of all this work is summarizedin Tables I and II, As a result of this work greatly improvedarrayswith
which show some of the salient features of the more
lower sidelobesand provisionsfor beam steeringover
commonlyusedtitanates and zirconates.We note that wide angular sectorshave comeinto use. At the same
substantial increasesin effective coupling coefficients time, we learnedto improvethe elementsensitivity,to
and power-handlingcapacity (low loss factor) have suppress structure-borne noise, and to reduce flow
beenachievedthroughproperblendingof ingredients. noise. All this had to be accomplishedover a wider
Many of these new piezoelectricmaterials are now rangeof hydrostaticpressures and coveringincreasingly
readily available on a commercialbasis,with outstand- wider frequencybands. Thus, much designflexibility
ing success in someareas.They have generallyproved was achievedthroughoutthe past 20 years, aided by
more cost-effective than crystals(ADP) and magneto- progressin the theory of multiplicative and additive
strictive materials, while providing wider margins in arrays. As Fig. 4 shows,we are now able to work with a
powerand sensitivity.Only in somespecialapplications wide variety of array configurations,backed in most
whereruggedness and shockresistanceare at a premium casesby goodtheory, which lend themselvesto towing,
are magnetostrictivetransducersstill consideredsupe- conformal mounting on hulls, beam steering from
rior. One suchapplicationis discussed later. endfire to broadside, and to sidelookingsonar and
During the past20 years,rapidadvancesin solid-state synthetic-aperturetypesof applications,borrowedfrom
physics have revolutionizedelectronicsengineering: the radar world.
the transistorwas born and applied and eventually A much-usedtype of array is the searchlighttrans-
transformed into microcircuitry. Digital computers ducer. One version, using a large number of small
becamesufficientlycompactand reliable to find their
way through the hatches of submarinesand into the
controlroomsof destroyers.
As digital processorsand memoriesmade possible
the rapid digestion, correlation,and classificationof
data from larger volumesof ocean,new conceptsin
the spatial manipulationof acousticsignalsdeveloped.
Although arrays of transducer elements have been
used for some time, the beamformingpossibilitiesby
modernsonar theory alsopresentednew challengesto

CONFIGURATION OPERATION

LINEAR OMNIDIRECTIONAL

PLANAR FAN SHAPED

CYLINDRICAL SEARCHLIGHT

SPHERICAL STEERED BEAMS

CONFORMAL PREFORMED BEAMS

,.
VOLUMETRIC ADAPTIVE BEAMS

REFLECTOR SYNTHETIC APERTURE

ACOUSTIC LENS

................................
.. .......
FIo. 4. Underwater acousticarrays. Fro. 5. Dolphin array (Honeywell).

1028 Volume 51 Number 3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION AND RECEPTION

Fro. 6. TR11C array (Massa).

elementsthat are suitably phasedand packagedfor However, the significanceof some earlier work was
deep submergenceapplications,is shown in Fig. 5. soon recognizedby Pritchard, who in 1960, wrote in
However, even when a designis basedon well-known the Journal of theAcousticalSocietyof A merica6:
principles,thereare still caseswheretheorybogsdown
for mathematicalreasonsbecauseof the necessityof The first calculation of mutual acoustic reactance
working with complexboundary conditionsor finite appearsto be that of Karnovskii(1941) ["Calcula-
frequencybandsor nonidealdomestructures. tion of the Radiation Resistanceof SeveralTypes
For example, the quest for larger power and lower of Distributed Radiator Systems," Sov. Phys.
frequency,asin ColumbiaUniversity'sProjectArtemis, Acoust.,J. Acoust.Acad.Sci.USSR,2 (Oct. 1955)•,
led to the constructionof large assemblies of active who evaluatedthe complexmutual impedancefor
elements,with dimensionsof several wavelengths. pulsatingspheresof radiussmallrelative to a wave-
These pursuits have confronted us with new and length. Recently (1956), this samewriter extended
initially quite disturbing phenomena of element his calculations, in the case of mutual resistance
interactionsoccasionallycausinglarge variations in only, to a more generalsphericalradiator of arbi-
the complex radiation impedance, as seen by the trary size and order. Resistive and reactive com-
individual array elements.Here, additionaltheoretical ponents of the mutual impedance between two
effortbecamenecessary to dealwith a practicalproblem circular pistonswere calculatedby S. J. Klapman
whichwasnot anticipated.It shouldbe noted,however, ["Interaction Impedanceof a Systemof Circular
that we find an inklingof this type of problemearlierin Pistons,"J. Acoust.Soc. Amer. 11, 289 (1940)•,
the 1950National ResearchCouncilreport: usinga direct integration procedure.

No adequatetheoreticaltreatment (nor adequate Out of this work, the conceptof velocity controlwas
empiricism for that matter) is available for developedby a group of transducer researchpeople
radiatorswhich have dimensionscomparablewith working under Hickman at NUC, San Diego7.-
one wavelengthand which are set in bafflesother "velocity control"beingan electronicmeansof protect-
than an infinite rigid plane. This now causes ing the individual transducerelement against extreme
difficulty,particularlyin the designof largearrays,local impedance variations while at the same time
for low-frequencylistening. reducing these variations by proper choiceof piston
size and elementspacing.
The real problemoccurredin the early 1960swith One of the first, very large low-frequencyarrays
two active low-frequencyarrays built for the ARTEMIS developedby Frank M assafor long-rangepropagation
and the LORADprograms.Both arrays demonstrated researchis shownin Fig. 6.8The dipole-typetransducer
localhot spotswherethe effectiveelementimpedance element used in this array was introduced by John
assumed negative radiation resistance values which Chervenak of the Naval ResearchLaboratory.ø A rigid
were traced to mutual impedance terms that, until box-shaped outershellresonateswith a spring-mounted
this time, had beenignoredby mostarray designers. internal mass,usingvariable reluctance-typemagnetic

The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1029

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 T. F. HUETER

Fro. 7. Planar array concept.

excitation.After the introductionof appropriatemea-

suresfor velocity control, this array was usedsuccess-
fully during the past six yearsfor propagationexperi-
ments conductedfrom its mother ship, the MISSION
CAPISTRANO. As can be imagined, for an array
that is 50 ft high, 35 ft wide, and weighs150 tons, the
requirementof suspendingit on 1500 ft of cable•of Fro. 9. Cylindrical sonar array (Bendix).
generating, transmitting, and impedance-matching
closeto 1 000 000 W of power to it (and of keeping
springs, compressedair, and other such devices,
the mother ship on stationduring the courseof experi-
including evaluation of energy-weight ratios and
ment) are formidable requirementsindeed. At this
energy-volumeratios.
scale,problemsof power storageand conversionloom
Another use of these large, low-frequencyplanar
very large. Here, we can still agreewith a pragmatic
arraysthat has gonethroughseveralconcept-formula-
statement made in the 1950 NRC report, which called
tion stagesin recent years would incorporatesuch
for study of the economyof energystoragein batteries,

..
..

:.-. • :;

.
:.: :' .
" i;•;..-'-.-.-----:-
,... ':'":' i:;'.,--";.
......
::,. :--,.-
.::•!:}?'::'..:...:.;.::;:" "-'-:
:'--':
..?':"::• .........
•!•
..... ;:f.'-'......½::•
,-%,.;.
:½:::- '½;:7'
. ...¾:-'
....

'•'"'"':
!if
•.,..:•
i';i

Fro. 8. New generationof destroyersusing bow-mountedsonar. Fro. 10. Sphericalarray scalemodel (Raytheon).

1030 Volume51 Number3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION
FIG. 11. AN/BQS-6 transducerarray
(Raytheon).
arraysinto the hull or the keelof a largesurfaceship,
with onearrayon eachside,asshownin Fig. 7. Quoting
from an articleby I. Cook,whichappearsin the June
1969Naval EngineersJournaPø:
ß . . from a sonar standpoint, it is desirable to
have a wedge--maybeten degreetotal angle--and
to have the arraystilted to the vertical for bottom
bounce utilization perhaps 20 degrees.Such a
combinationin an appendage faired to the hull of
the ship will be a rather large proportionof the
underwater wetted surface. There has been talk of
a conformal array, where the transducer array
surfacewould conformto the shapeof the under-
water hull, so that an appendageis not required,
but this introducessomuchcomplexitynot only in
thephysics
o•thetransducers
butinotheraspects,
Fx(•. 12. STAR III with 400-Hz source(North American
Rockwell).
Downloaded 08 Jun 2013 to 132.206.27.25. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/terms
AND RECEPTION
like beamformingof a non-symmetricalsurface,
that it has been deferred until planar array
technologyexperience
hasbeenacquired-.
Innovative effortssuchasthishaverequiredextensive
computer modeling of the radiationcharacteristics,
and
baffle propertiesfor such arrays. They representa
severe test for our current understandingof acoustic
array properties,and the realizationof such fully
integratedarraysis oneof the majorchallenges of the
future. The utility of such arrays dependson the
feasibilityfor steeringbeamsfrom broadsideto endfire
withoutlossof radiationefficiencyandpatternintegrity,
and alsoon the ability of compensating for the ship's
Fro. 13. Parabolicreflectorassembly(North AmericanRockwell).
The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1031
 T. F. HUETER

in Fig. 8. The bubble-shapedbow dome contains a

cylindrical array, of the type shownin Fig. 9, whose
axial symmetry renders beamsteeringfairly simple,
comparedwith the situation just described.
Again quotingfrom the June 1969articleby I. Cook'
Beamformingis much lesscomplexin a cylindrical
array, for no matter in whichdirectionthe beamis
formedin azimuth, the symmetryof the transducer
favorably allows identical electronic equipment
for the phasingand time delaysnecessaryto form
the beam. Even for depressionangles,the sameis
true. This is not the casefor a planar array where
for each and every direction in space,whether in
azimuth, or in depressionangles,a new combination
of electronicequipmentis required.
The ideal shapefor broadestarray coverage,uniform
in all directions,is spherical.The loadingcharacteristics
of setsof pistonslocatedon sucha surfacewere shown
to be reasonablyuniform by C. Sherman as early as
1948.n These predictionswere later confirmedexperi-

Fro. 14. 400-Hz line array (Honeywell).

motion.
Thisisnosmall
taskbecause,
withlarge
steering
angles,
the
nearfield
becomes
increasingly
nonuniform
with largepressureand velocityfluctuationsconducive
to cavitation, placing excessivedemandson velocity
control. Also, the phase relationshipsnecessaryfor

low
sidelobe
beams
are
difficult
to
maintain
over
wide
frequencybands.
The current approachfor surface-shipsonaras used
by our new generation of destroyersis depicted

T•r.v. III. Passivetransducer

materials.

Usedas Used as Maximum

Material decoupler
reflector useful depth
Air 50 ft
Aircell rubber 50 ft
Corprene 200 ft
Bellevillespring 1200 ft
Onionskinpaper 1500 ft
Compliant tubes 2500 ft
Min-k 2000 10 000 ft (plus)
Sonire 10 000 ft (plus)
Fro. 15. Scroll assembly (Bendix).

1032 Volume 51 Number 3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION AND RECEPTION

mentallywith the help of scalemodds.The useof such

modeling,both on the computerand by size reduction
of actualarrays (Fig. 10), hasbecomecommonpractice
in recentyearsafter somedisappointments with designs
basedon theory alone. Full-scalesphericalarrays have
been developed for submarine applications by the
SubmarineSignalDivision of Raytheonin cooperation
with the UnderwaterSoundLaboratoryin New London.
As of today, they representa state-of-the-art that is
well understoodand highly successful for both active
echo-rangingand passive listening. This impressive
sphericaltransducerassemblyshownin Fig. 11 has a
diameter of 15 ft and well over a thousand active
radiators.It is integratedinto the bow of the submarine
by an acoustically transparent dome that provides
minimum beam distortion--a considerable acoustic
achievement in itself.
Smaller submarines,such as the STAR III shownin
Fig. 12, have used reflector-type arrays as a suitable
compromise in producingdirectivity at wavelengthstoo
large to be handled by a hull-mounted conventional
array.
The paraboloidarray shownproducesan 18ø beam
at a frequencyof 4 kHz. Reflectorsof many shapesand
forms have been studied during the past 10 years by
McKinney and co-workersat the University of Texas,
particularly for high-frequency,high-resolutionsonar
applications.•-
The mostinnovativeapproachto reflectordesignwas
originated by Toulis, who investigatedthe acoustic
properties of air-filled, thin-walled metal tubes of
elliptical cross section, as obtained by squashing. •a ...

Open frameworks of such squashedtubes are the

...

acousticalanalog to the open wire nets used as radar

reflectors.A large-scaleinstallation built accordingto
Toulis'sdesignprinciplesby North AmericanRockwell

FIO. 17. Ceramic ring stack (Honeywell).

for a fixed-bottom installation is shown in Fig. 13.

It is beingusedby the Universityof Miami for measure-
ments of phase stability acrossthe Gulf Stream at
frequenciesnear 500 Hz.
Compliant-tube structures of this kind have been
used in several applicationsrequiring low pc, such as
reflectorsand acousticLunenburglenses,and as filling
material for pressurereleasecavities.One suchapplica-
tion is in the 400-Hz line array shownin Fig. 14. Each
element is a barrel-staved arrangement of ceramic
bender bars, to be describedlater, with a compliant
tube core within the barrel for pressurerelief. The use
of complianttubesfor pressurereliefis limited to about
2000-ftwater depth,becauseof the intrinsicrelationship
betweencollapsestrength,and the complianceof tubes
of elliptical crosssection.
The large-scalepropagationexperimentsof Project
Fro. 16. Brass III ring (GE). Artemis and LORADhave demonstratedthe advantages

The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1033

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 T. F. HUETER

last two in the table, progressivelylose their dynamic

complianceunder prolongedexposureto high hydro-
static pressure.
One way around this difficulty presents itself,
particularly at low frequencies,through the use of
free-floodedcavities, as embodied in magnetostrictive
scrolls and ceramic rings. The art of magnetostrictive
scroll arrays was perfectedduring the late fifties and
early sixtiesby Camp and BendixJ4 Figure 15 showsa
set of such rings, without windings, built of annealed
0.01-in.-thick nickel 204 alloy strip, wound into scrolls
4-in. thick and consolidatedwith an epoxy adhesive.
The power capacity of this particular array is 100 kW,
radiated omnidirectionally in the horizontal plane,
which corresponds to about 52 W per poundof nickel.
The operating frequency of such structures is
obtained simply by dividing the soundvelocity of the
flooding medium by the mean ring diameter, which
gives 1.5 kHz for a 3-ft-diam ring.
For linear operation,magnetostrictivedevicesrequire
a biasingfield or a direct current, which is one of the
disadvantagesthat must be traded off against the
obvious advantages of ruggedness, low-impedance
characteristics,and little need for encapsulation.On
the other hand, ceramicringsare lighter than the scroll

NUMBER OF INPUT VARIABLES = 280

48 ELEMENT COUPLING COEFFICIENTS

48 ELEMENT RESONANT FREQUENCIES

48 ELEMENT CAPACITANCES

28 TRANSFORMER AMPLITUDE RATIOS

12 TRANSFORMER TUNING VALUES

96 RADIATION
IMPEDANCE
VALUES

FIG. 18. Longitudinal vibrator (Massa).

TRANSDUCER ARRAY

of deep acoustic installations that would be either

bottom-mountedor suspendedfrom suitable support
structures.This did generatea gooddeal of motivation • [ BEAM
WIDTH
OF
14
DIRECTIVITY
PATTERNS
=14
toward solving or circumventingthe pressure-release
requirement with which all unidirectional piston
--•• J MAXIMUM
SIDELOBE
[ SLOPE
LEVELS
IN
ELECTRICAL
PHASE
12
eATTERNS
versus
=12
BEARING
radiatorsare faced.While goodacousticcouplingto the
medium must be provided at the piston's front face,
•/ANGLE
•
PLOT
IN
2PLANES
[CROSSOVER POINTS OF EPA CURVE
=2
= 4

a high degree of decouplingfrom the medium, the SOURCE LEVEL --- 1

mounting structure, or housing,is desiredat the back EFFICIENCY -- 1

end of the piston and all its movingparts. BANDWIDTH = 1

Table III lists common pressure-releasematerials IMPEDANCE -- 8
that provide suitable solutionsfor such decoupling: TOTAL NUMBER OF OUTPUT
corprene,stacksof onionskinpaper, and, more recently, PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS = 43
syntactic foams--all substances of some type of
cellular structure with low characteristic acoustic
Fzo. 19. Complexity of manufacturingtoleranceanalysisfor
impedance.Most of these, with the exceptionof the multielement arrays.

1034 Volume 51 Number 3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION
EQUIPMENT
BEAMPATTERNPLOTTERS - SCIENT.ATLANTA
VECTOR IMPEDANCE PLOTTERS - CHESAPEAKE
CW VECTOR IMMITTANCE
PLOTTER - DRANETZ
HIGH-POWER PULSE VECTOR - DRANETZ
IMMITTANCE SCIENT.ATLANTA
DIGITAL
E,I, • PULSE
ANDCW- OCEAN
DATA
OPTICAL HOLOGRAPHY
Fro. 20. Advances in acoustic calibration.
assemblies shown,and they do not require an external
dc bias, having been permanently polarized during
manufacture. Initially, such rings were centrifugally
cast in one piece, radially polarized, and driven in the
k3•modefrom longitudinallyaffixedstriped electrodes.
Many failures in the field led to the requirement for
increasingboth the mechanical strength and electro-
acoustic performance of ceramic ring transducers.
Shown in Fig. 16 is a greatly improved designfor the
BRASS III transducer,developedand fabricated by
the General Electric Company for the Underwater
SoundLaboratory in New London.
The segmentedconstruction allows use of k3• cou-
pling, whichis 200-/0higherthan k•, and the fiberglass
wrappingprovidesa mechanicalbias that protectsthe
ceramic against fractures at the peak amplitudes
resultingfrom driving fieldsof 6-8 V/msec.
During the past decade, a considerableamount of
new technology (tangential drive, low-lossmaterial,
mechanicalbias) has been applied to deep-operating
sourcessuch as these, which generate source levels
in the 120-130 dB range, at frequencies between
0.5-5 kHz.
Whereas magnetostrictivetransducersof the large
ring or scroll type shownhere have a definite place in
the low-frequencydeep-immersionarea of application,
they have lost the raceto the ferroelectric,permanently
polarized ceramics for all those applications where
single-endedpiston radiatorsare appropriate.
Most multielement sonar arrays, such as the cylin-
drical and spherical configurationsshown earlier, use
the longitudinal-vibrator-typeelement composedof a
radiating front end of light weight and a heavy back
mass,with a springcomposedof active ceramicringsor
disksin the middle,as shownin Fig. 17. Twenty years
ago,the active springof this so-calledtonpilz transducer
design consistedof stacks of Rochelle salt, ADP, or
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AND RECEPTION
SPECIAL FACILITIES
PRESSURE/TEMPERATURE,
ANECHOIC-ORLANDO
PRESSURE/TEMPERATURE
6'000PSI - SANDIEGO
TRANSDECFREE-FIELD - SAN DIEGO
HYDRAULICSHOCK; 4200PSI - NEWLONDON
EXPLOSIVE
SHOCK - NORFOLK
LARGE
ARRAYTESTING - PEND
OREILLE,
SENECA
RANGES
AUTEC NOISE CALIBRATION
FORACS SONAR CALIBRATION
VARIOUS UNDERWATER TRACKING
nickel laminations. To date, these designshave been
replaced by ceramic structures that are cheaper to
fabricate and assemble and provide higher electro-
mechanical coupling, acousticbandwidth, and power-
handling capability.
This transition from nearly perfect crystals to
artifically compoundedceramicshas not been without
problems.A gooddeal of new ceramictechnologyfrom
the mixing of the powdersto the baking, electroding,
and polarizing of the piece parts had to be developed,
together with suitable quality control proceduresand
test instrumentation. However, ceramics continued to
exhibit one seriousshortcoming'namely,their inability
to supportmuch tensilestress,whichled to fracture at
power levels that were mandatory for active sonar
applications.If the vibrations could be maintained
under a mechanical bias, as in precompressionof the
ceramic stack, high power loads could be sustained
without the stresscycle ever becomingtensile.
Simple as this sounds,it took an invention to enable
us to visualize the right solution and to put it into
practice' the inventor was Harry Miller'S--then at
Clevite, now at USL--and the time of the invention
was 1954. He applied his invention in the form of a
tie rod through the center of the longitudinal vibrator
assembly,as shownin Fig. 18.
The central stressrod acts as a spring that is soft
comparedwith the ceramicstack itself, but which still
provides a large dc force. The relative softnessof the
spring preservesboth coupling coefficientand band-
width of the transducers,whether in the form of the tie
rod for stacks, or of fiberglass wrapping for rings.
The latter technique was introduced into transducer
designseveralyearslater. Today, the useof mechanical
bias is universal in acoustic power generation in the
range from 100 Hz to 100 kHz.
The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1035
 T. F. HUETER

Fro. 21. Hologramsof transducerface at 10% z•f (Raytheon).

In order to be able to predict both elementand array

performance better, new equivalent circuits and
distributedparametermathematicalmodelsweredevel-
oped that take account of structural details•such
as tie rods, cement joints, and mounting losses•that
were neglected by the earlier lumped mass-spring
approaches.In this area, much groundworkwas laid
by the U.S. Navy's transducerlaboratories,both in
San Diego and in New London. Here, Ed Carsonand
Gordon Martin x• improved the predictability of
longitudinal vibrator design, and Ralph WoollettTM
further clarified the role of the electromechanical
couplingcoefficientas a key designparameter.
Someof the difficultiesencounteredby the transducer
designersderived from insufficientknowledge of the

STRUCTURAL MODE FLUIDIC DRIVE

MULTIMODE RING PNEUMATIC GYRATOR

(RAYTHEON) (BODINE)

FLEXTENSIONAL HYDRAULIC OSCILLATOR

(TOULIS) (BOUYOUCOS-HUNT)

BENDER BAR HYDROACOUSTIC AMPLI FI ER

(HONEYWELL) (GENERAL DYNAMICS,
RAYTHEON)

Fro. 22. New transductionconcepts. Fro. 23. Bender array (Honeywell).

1036 Volume 51 Number 3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION AND RECEPTION

material characteristics(rubber, paper, cement) or of

the influence of manufacturing tolerances on array
performance,and from the inability to measurecertain
acoustic parameters with sufficient accuracy. The
complexity of manufacturing tolerance analysis for
multielement arrays is depicted in schematicform in
Fig. 19. In spite of much progressin the useof math-
model predictions and production-toleranceanalysis,
there are still seriousgaps between calculated and
actual transducer-arrayperformance.They relate to
theoretical inadequaciesthat remain in the area of
radiation loading (boundary conditions), structural
couplingeffects,and lossmechanisms.
Therefore, in many real situations that warrant
some kind of tolerance analysis, but in which one is
confronted with too many independentparameters,
the only practical way is to set up production on a
go/no-go basis. Subsequentevaluation of the over-all
systemperformancein a well-instrumentedunderwater
test environment is still the best way to determine
whetherthe systemwill fly. This bringsto mind another
statement from the 1950 NRC report' "It should be
emphasizedthat our ability to approach theoretical
limits of performanceis basedon considerableempir-
icism, and severalfalse starts may be necessary."
Although this advice has not always been heeded
duringthe recentera of papercost-effectivenessstudies,
test instrumentationhas progressedtremendouslyin

...

':'•...:•.
'3'

'•½.'5,

Fro. 25. Multimode transducer(Raytheon).

recentyears.The needsof the sonarengineerhave been

Fro. 24. Flex-dimensional element (North American Rockwell).
reinforcedby a surgein audio-engineering and testing
technology,and by the exacting measurementtech-
niques developedfor noise control. As a result, much
automated recording and data-reduction capability
and improved displays are now available to the de-
velopers and manufacturersof sonar transducertest

The Journalof the AcousticalSocietyof America 1037

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 T. F. HUETER

FLEXURALDISC RADIATOR

ELECTROSTRICTIVE
Fro. 26. Amplifier/transducer
module (General Dynamics).

•AMPLIFIER
VALVE SPOOL

:BACK MASS

TUNING INDUCTOR

instrumentation. Figure 20 summarizessome of the Also includedin this listing are suchexplosivesources
more significant advances in acoustic calibration as shaped charges and electric sparks, which have
equipmentsand test rangesmadeduring the past two found considerableapplicationin seismicprofiling.
decades.The useof opticalholographyin analyzingthe The scopeof this paper does not permit a detailed
complex vibrational patterns of radiators is demon- discussionof all mechanizationsof the conceptsshown
stratedin Fig. 21, wherethe pattern changecausedby in Fig. 22, but a few exampleswill be cited from each
10% detuningis shownfor the samepiston. category:
With the availability of excellenttest facilities,both
at land-lockedtest sitesand at the variousopen-sea Structural Modes. Whereas in the mass-springres-
test ranges,a certain amount of empiricismin trans- onators discussedbefore, the radiating member is
ducerdesignwill continueto be beneficialto innovation designedto be as stiff as possible;it can be of advantage
in this area. In fact, the math-modelingway of life --particularly at low frequencies--to couple the
that hasbecomederigueurwith someNavy laboratories mechanical spring directly to the medium. This will
has beenconsidered a bit of a deterrentby imaginative save considerable weight while retaining adequate
acousticianswho try to introduce unorthodox ap- radiation characteristics,as in the simple tuning fork.
One successful use of structural resonance for low-
proachesto transduction.Likewise, to somepotential
usersthe inability to fit a new mechanismwith high- frequency sound generation is the Honeywell bender
performanceclaims into available modeling software bar transducershownin Fig. 23. Flexing-bar resonators
schemes has also been a deterrent. may be clamped or hinged at either end of the bar.
Figure22 listssomeunusualtransductiontechniques, Hinged bars are used in pairs for dynamic balance,
most of which have had initial roughgoingin winning allowingfor lighter weight and better radiation loading.
acceptance.They have been classifiedinto two types. These bars are made of two layers of ceramic, each
The first takes advantageof specialmodesof vibration layer being composedof many individually electroded
of structuressuitablefor modular array configuration; segments.Bar lengths from 10 cm to 1 m have been
the other classusessome form of fluid dynamic or used. Precompressionrods are used to keep the
hydromechanicalenergy conversion.Because of the compositeceramic assembly from tensile fracture at
direct couplingof hydraulically, chemically,or elec- high vibration amplitudes. The central volume of the
trically stored energy to the fluid medium (rather barrel-staved multibar transducer, shown earlier in
than through a special transducer material), the Fig. 14, is filled with complianttubesfor pressurerelief.
controlledreleaseof such energy at megawatt levels Anotherflexuraltransducer,derivedby W. J. Toulis•s
has seenmuch refinementin the past two decades. from his work with complianttubes,hasfound applica-

1038 Volume 51 Number 3 (Part 2) 1972

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 GENERATION AND RECEPTION

tion in the type of underwater projector which was

depictedin Fig. 13. It consistsof an outer shell, formed
from circular or elliptical archesof aluminum or steel
excited into flexural resonanceby a central ceramic
stack similar to thoseusedin conventionallongitudinal
vibrators. Again, as in the bender bar, the mass of the
vibrating system is distributed, rather than lumped,
and is containedin the unavoidablemassof the spring
structure. This of courseincreasesthe power-to-weight
ratio of thesetypes of transducers.In the flextensional
designby North American Rockwell,shownin Fig. 24,
the shell servesas housingfor protection and isolation
of the high voltagesappliedto the ceramicstack.
In addition to first-order bar modesand shell modes,
there is the possibilityof usinghigher-orderring modes
for compactline transducers.Theseare capableof some
directionality in receptionor transmission:by proper
phasing of multielectroded ring sections, cardioid
beam patterns may be formed in four quadrants. A
multimode transducer of the type originated by S.
Ehrlich•9of Raytheon is shownin Fig. 25.

Fluidic Drive. Underwater whistles, jets, and water-

hammer devices have long been items of study and
speculation.Systematic efforts to harness the energy
available in hydraulic accumulators by controlled
conversion into modulated fluid flow have finally Fro. 27. Hydroacoustic source (GDE).
resultedin sometransducertypesthat are both practical
and reliable. Figure 26 shows a hydroacousticvalve
amplifier developedby John Bouyoucos? ø A conven- built by GeneralDynamics accordingto theseprinciples
tional ceramic vibrator is used to excite oscillations of is shownin Fig. 27.
a mechanical valve spool that is coupled to it by a Modules of this type may be stackedup to form line
liquid spring.High-pressurehydraulicflow is switched or planar arrays for greater directionality. In such
by the spoolvalve to forcea flexuraldisk radiator into systems, energy storage is provided by pneumatic
high-amplitudeoscillations.The couplingof the three accumulatorsthat are trickle-chargedfrom-low-power
resonatorsystemsis suchthat adequateenergytransfer pumpscapableof deepsubmersion(Fig. 28). Although
and phase continuity are provided over a relative only prototype installations are in existencetoday, it
bandwidthof 20%. A hydroacoustic two-pistonsource appears that the more conventional transduction

SUPPLY
ACCUMULATOR

CONTROL SIGNAL
INPUT

Fxo. 28. Hydraulic energy storage system

(Bouyoucos,General Dynamics).

PUMP

RETURN YDROACOUSTIC

The Journal of the AcousticalSocietyof America 1039

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 T. F. HUETER

deviceswill seesomecompetitionfrombothstructural- ?hD thesis, Acoust. Res. Lab., Harvard Univ., Cambridge,
Mass.;also,Tech. Memo 36, Acoust.Res. Lab., Harvard Univ.,
mode transducersand hydroacoustic sourcesas these (July 1954).
new mechanismsbecomesufficientlywell understood 4j. j. Faran and Robert Hills, Jr., "The Applicationof Cor-
relation Techniquesto acousticReceiving Systems," Harvard
during the next decade. Univ. Acoust. Res. Lab., Tech. Memo 28 (Nov. 1952); "Cor-
Havingthusreviewed
someof theprogress
madeand relatorsfor SignalReception,"Harvard Univ. Acoust.Res. Lab.,
difficulties encountered in underwater sound transmis- Cambridge,Mass.,Tech. Memo 27 (Sept. 1952).
5Hans Mueller, Phys.Rev. $8, 565, 805 (1940); seealsoW. P.
sionandreception
since1950,oneshouldconclude
with Mason, PhysicalAcousticsand the Propertiesof Solids (Van
a prognosis
of thingsthat mightbe ahead.With less Nostrand, New York, 1958), p. 74.
0 R. L. Pritchard, "Mutual Acoustic Impedance between
research and developmentspending, and a more Radiatorsin an Infinite Rigid Plane," J. Acoust.Soc.Amer. 32,
pragmaticapproachto life, thesechanges will most 730-737 (1960).
likelybemorein thenatureofgradualimprovements 7j. S.Hickman,"Trendsin ModernSonarTransducer
in ?roc. Design,"
Nat. Electron.Conf., 22nd, Chicago,Ill. (Oct. 1966); E. L.
theory,in materials,and in efficiency.The greatest Carson,G. E. Martin, G. W. Benthien,andJ. S. Hickman,"Con-
impacton underwater soundreception andgenerationtrol of ElementVelocityDistributionsin SonarProjectorArrays,"
will resultfrom the full adaptationof digital technology ?roc. Navy Sci. Syrup.,7th, Pensacola,Fla. (May 1963).
8F. Massa(privatecommunication).
This work wassponsored
into the processing and interpretationof acoustic by ONR.
signals,of ever-increasing bandwidth,with full use 9j. Chervebak,"1 kcTransducerfor Long-RangeSearchSonar"
of all the potential inherent in modern computers. (unpublished report).
•0I. Cook, "The Ship-SonarInterface," Naval Eng. J. (June
Thus,softwarewill assume itsplacealongside
hardware, 1969).
and standardizationand interchangeabilityof equip- n C. H. Sherman, "Mutual Radiation Impedance between
ment will come about. Pistonson Spheres
and Cylinders,"NUSL Res.Rep. 405 (Nov.
1948).
The variability of sonarpropagationconditionsin v.G. R. Barnardand W. R. King, "Finite 90-DegreeBiconical
the oceanwill ultimatelyset the limits on the acoustic Surface
(1961).
asan AcousticTarget,"J. Acoust.Soc.Amer.33, 1652(A)
detection
performance that canbeachieved. Systematic l•W. J. Toulis, "Small PiezoceramicSonar Transducers,"
propagationresearch
slantedtowardspecificsurveil- GeneralDynamics/Convair,Rep. ERR-SD-022 (Mar. 1961).
•4L. Camp (privatecommunication). This work was doneby
lance-systemneedswill continueto be worthwhile. Bendix,PacificDivision,underONR sponsorship.
Particularly,long-termobservations
overfixedpropaga- •5H. B. Miller, "Origin of MechanicalBias for Transducers,"
tion pathsin extremeoceanenvironments will have J. •0
Acoust.Soc.Amer. 35, 1455(L) (1963).
E. L. Carson,"Diagnosisand Cure of Erratic VelocityDis-
to be undertaken,leadingto new challengesin trans- tributionsIn SonarProjectorArrays,"J. Acoust.Soc.Amer.34,
ducerdesignand signalprocessing. 1191-1196 (1962); G. E. Martin, "Vibrations of Coaxially
SegmentedLongitudinally-PolarizedFerroelectricTubes," J.
Acoust.Soc.Amer. 36, 1496 (1964); G. E. Martin, "Vibrationsof
LongitudinallyPolarizedFerroelectricCylindricalTubes," J.
• R. H. Bolt and T. F. Burke, "A Survey Report on Basic Acoust.Soc.Amer. 35, 510-520 (1963).
Problems of AcousticsResearch," Panel on Undersea Warfare, •7R. Woollett,"Transducer Comparison MethodsBasedOn the
Nat. Res. Council (1950). ElectromechanicalCoupling-CoefficientConcept," IRE Nat.
"G. N. Howart, J. W. Crownover,and A. Dranetz, "New Cony. Rec. 9, 23-27 (1957).
SyntheticPiezoelectric Material," Electronics21, 97-99 (Dec. •8W. J. Toulis, "ElectromechanicalCouplingand Composite
1948); W. P. Mason, "Barium-TitanateCeramicAs An Elec- Transducers,"J. Acoust.Soc.Amer. 35, 74-80 (1963).
tromechanicalTransducer,"Bell Lab. Rec. 21, 285-288 (Aug. •9S. L. Ehrlich, N. Serotta,and K. Kleinschmidt,"Multimode
1949); W. P. Mason,Piezoelectric Crystalsand TheirApplication CeramicTransducers,"J. Acoust.Soc.Amer. 31, 854(A) (1959).
to Ultrasonics(Van Nostrand,New York, 1950),pp. 307. •0j. V. Bouyoucos(privatecommunication). Work at General
aj. V. Bouyoucos, "Self-ExcitedHydrodynamic Oscillators," DynamicsElectronics,Rochester,N.Y., sponsored by ONR.

1040 Volume 51 Number3 (Part 2) 1972

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