Research on the acceleration responsivity of the fiber-optic air-backed mandrel hydrophones

Abstract

In this work, the acceleration responsivity of the optical-fiber air-backed mandrel hydrophone is proposed and investigated both analytically and experimentally. The acceleration responsivity is a significant index of the hydrophone, and it would be a serious noise source of pressure phase sensitivity of the fiber-optic hydrophone in high vibration environments. The three-dimensional quazistatically theoretical model of the hydrophone is created and the acceleration responsivity of the hydrophone is analyzed. On the basis of the analyses of the parameters of the theoretical model, main restrictively factors and the improved methods are obtained. According to general format which is proposed, certain structures of the mandrel fiber-optic hydrophone is produced with determined parameters, and the acceleration responses validate our theory model. The theoretical and experimental treatment give a set of guidelines, which should be followed in order to minimize the acceleration responsivity of the fiber-optic mandrel hydrophone, and the symmetrical structure could be applied to reduce the acceleration noises greatly. The hydrophone could be designed to achieve the required performances according to the model created above.