Very High Powered, Low Frequency Underwater Projectors Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Topic No.: N161-059 Topic Title: Very High Powered, Low Frequency Underwater Projectors Proposal No.: N161-059-0469 Firm: Progeny Systems Corporation 9500 Innovation Drive Manassas, Virginia 20110 Contact: David Baird Phone: (801) 359-4566 Web Site: http://www.progeny.net Abstract: Traditionally low frequency underwater projectors are of the flextensional or flexural designation to permit low frequency operation in a small volume. These devices are normally excited by piezoelectric ceramic commonly identified as PZT. For these devices the power output is field limited as opposed to stress limited. The advent of PMN-PT textured ceramic promises a power output boost that permits at least 10 dB more source level over conventional PZT. This increase in field limit allows the transducer designer to better match the stress and field limits of the particular design. A notional design would be a transducer that is football sized that can achieve a source level of 207 dB with a useable bandwidth encompassing 600 to 1200 Hz. The ability of the mechanism to transmit in an omnidirectional mode and in a directional mode would be an advantage for operational use. Variations on the established classifications of flextensional transducer types would be preferred. Benefits: To develop, fabricate, and demonstrate a low frequency, very high-powered underwater transducer that exploits the enhanced properties of PMN-PT textured ceramic. The intended end product use of these projectors is an array that needs to generate very high acoustic power in a compact device that exhibits broad bandwidth and high effective coupling. The development of this technology will have application to the oceanographic community and oil exploration industry. Return