Materials for High Performance Cymbal Transducers

The effects of materials on the performance of the cymbal-type flextensional transducers were investigated under in-air and water-loaded conditions by finite element analysis (FEA) methods. At the initial stage, FEA and experimental studies were conducted in parallel to gain experience with the FEA models. Later, all calculations were carried out by computational methods: resonance frequencies, projector TVR, receiver FFVS, effective coupling coefficient (keff), and mechanical quality factor (Q m ) were calculated. Ceramic and endcap materials have strong effects on the TVR/FFVS performance of cymbal transducers. It is possible to tailor a wide range of flexural resonance frequencies by optimizing the ceramics used as the driver and the metals used as the endcaps.