High frequency wide beam PVDF ultrasonic projector for underwater communications

Abstract

This work describes the development and characterization of a wide beam and wideband ultrasonic transducer, designed as an emitter for underwater communications up to 1.5 MHz. The active element being used is composed of two layers of 110 μm PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) film, with NiCu electrodes. The transducer has a semicircular shape with a diameter of 15 cm. Pool trials show a transmitting voltage response of approximately 150 dB re μPa/V @ 1m from 750kHz to 1MHz and higher than 130 dB re μPa/V @ 1m between 250kHz and 1.5MHz. At 1 MHz, when excited with 12V, the transducer has a power consumption of 37.5 mW.This work was co-financed by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), Project NORTE-010145-FEDER-000032 – NextSea. This work is co-financed by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01- 0145-FEDER- 006941. M. S. Martins thanks FCT for the grant SFRH/BPD/107826/2015.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio