A broadband omnidirectional barrel-stave flextensional transducer

The piezoelectric Class III barrel-stave flextensional transducer is an underwater acoustic source that is capable of generating sound over a wide frequency band. This broadband performance is achieved through coupling the fundamental flexural and longitudinal modes of vibration. Near the low frequency flexural resonance, the Class III transducer is small compared to a wavelength, and its radiation is omnidirectional. However, at frequencies in the vicinity of the longitudinal resonance, the radiation is directional. In this article, we show through the use of a finite element model that the Class III transducer can be designed for omnidirectional radiation over the entire band.