Bae Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.

Jason W Osborn

Matthew M DeAngelis

Charles P Wason, Jr

William S McNary

Jeffrey J Enos

An acoustic projector which includes an outer shell formed of a reinforced epoxy resin having a longitudinal slot has an inner reinforcing liner formed of metal to reduce mechanical stress. The liner extends throughout the length of the outer shell and has a longitudinal slot aligned with the slot formed in the shell. An arcuate shaped driver is mounted along a portion of the I.D. of the metal liner and separated therefrom by insulation. In an alternate embodiment, the outer shell is formed of a plurality of overlapping layers of epoxy/graphite strips extending at various angles to increase the Z-axis stiffness.

Acoustic projector having minimized mechanical stresses

An acoustic projector which includes an outer shell () formed of a reinforced epoxy resin having a longitudinal slot () has an inner reinforcing liner () formed of metal to reduce stress. The liner () extends throughout the length of the outer shell and has a longitudinal slot () aligned with the slot () formed in the shell (). An arcuate shaped driver () is mounted along a portion of the I.D. of the metal liner () and separated therefrom by insulation ().

An underwater acoustic projector comprising one or more cylindrical shell segments (), each shell segment () having an even number of drivers () mounted therein, and the method of manufacturing said projector. The shell segments () preferably are formed with a longitudinal slot () and have arcuate segments (), preferably of a dielectric material extending along the sides of the slot () for retaining the drivers () within the shell segments (). The combined lengths of the driver is between 70% and 90% of the shell segment () length.

Acoustic projector and method of manufacture

An acoustic transducer design having a slotted oval-shaped shell and active transducer elements located on the inner surface of the shell is disclosed. The design provides a high power, ultra-low frequency oval projector having a number of applications, including underwater seismic prospecting and fish mitigation.

Method of manufacturing an acoustic transducer

A honeycomb-like shell is provided for an acoustic projector used in sonar applications to increase the bandwidth of the projector, reduce its weight, and to provide increased power density and reduced shell costs. The shell has outer and inner layers, with the honeycomb structure therebetween. The honeycomb shells have application in slotted cylindrical projectors, flextensional projectors, inverse flex tensional projectors, and oval-shaped projectors in which the honeycomb structure replaces the solid shells, with the honeycomb providing the relatively high specific stiffness required for the acoustic properties of the projector. The honeycomb shell achieves the same bending stiffness of the solid shells with less weight through the utilization of radial stiffeners between the inner and outer layers. The use of the honeycomb structure increases bandwidth by over 30%, and reduces total weight by 22%, shell weight by 65% and shell cost by 50%, making the honeycomb shell ideal for low frequency sonar applications.

Openwork shell projector

Ultra-low frequency acoustic transducer

A flextensional transducer projector shell design is disclosed. The shell design has a shape formed so as to reduce the stress placed on the transduction driver as compared to other shell designs. The shell design includes first and second bulbous end portions, which can each be adapted to receive a respective end of a transduction driver. A middle portion of the shell design has both concave sections and convex sections, thereby defining a wave profile.

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Amherst, NH, United States of America

Jason W Osborn