Evaluation of the Side Lobe Level Properties of 1-3 and 2-2 Piezocomposite Sonar Transducers with Printed Triangular Shape Electrodes in Comparison to a Convention Transducer Comprising of six PZT Bars with Analogue Network

Abstract

In a sonar line array the side lobes in the horizontal direction are controlled (reduced) using signal processing, while in the vertical direction are determined by the transducer design. Conventionally, this is done by using a transducer comprising discrete PZT bars spaced vertically and an analogue electronics network to apply different amplitudes to the bars. In this paper we present such a transducer comprising six PZT bars with its analogue network to produce a triangular shading (-24dB main / side lobe level) and compare its performance to transducers made of 1-3 and 2-2 piezocomposite materials with printed triangular shape electrodes. All transducers were designed to operate between 400kHz and 450kHz. The measured receiving frequency response and polar directivity responses of the three transducers (including networks) will be presented and compared to the theoretical simulations. The results obtained showed significant improvement to the main lobe to side lobe ratio with both 1-3 and 2-2 piezoelectric based transducers. The transducers made with 1-3 piezocomposite material also achieved higher receiving response level. The fabrication of the 1-3 and 2-2 piezocomposite transducers with the printed electrodes also proved to be simpler and more cost effective.