State switched transducers: A new approach to high-power, low-frequency, underwater projectors

In order to produce high-amplitude, low-frequency signals, an underwater transducer must generate a relatively large volume displacement. Since water exerts a large reaction force back on the transducer, "conventional wisdom" dictates that such a transducer would have to be a high Q resonant device and thus not be broadband. However, a transducer does not have to be broadband in the conventional sense to meet the requirements of communication and sonar systems. A transducer that is capable of instantaneously switching between two discrete frequencies is adequate for communication and transmission of coded signals; one that is capable of switching among several frequencies could produce the chirp signals commonly used in active sonars, Ordinarily, a broadband transducer is needed to accomplish the frequency switching rapidly. A way around this difficulty is the "state-switched" source concept originally proposed by Walter Munk in 1980 which permits instantaneous frequency switching of a high Q resonant transducer while always maintaining the resonance state. The objective of this research has been to investigate this novel approach to the design of high-power, low-frequency, broadband transducers for use in long-range underwater communication, active sonar, and underwater research applications. This paper presents a practical realization of a "state-switched" source. (C) 1998 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(98)03502-4].