A deep water modular lug-type arc transducer

Abstract

The application discloses a deep water modular lug type arc transducer, which is composed of a watertight sound transmission protective shell part, a lug type active excitation part, a pressure resistant decoupling backing part, a metal bottom plate part and an internal filling part. The active excitation part is sleeved outside the pressure resistant decoupling backing, and the two are fixed on an outer shell formed by the watertight sound transmission protective shell and the metal bottom plate through a lug type elastic suspension structure. The internal filling part fills the remaining cavity in the transducer, so that the active excitation part presents a suspension effect. Each part is modularly designed and prepared in combination, and is independent of each other, and any component can be replaced. The application adopts the modular design, the lug type elastic suspension vibration isolation structure, the suspension type oil filling support structure and a vulcanization process to prepare a sound transmission layer. On the basis of guaranteeing the performance requirements of a conventional arc transducer, such as a large opening angle and a high source level, the application has the advantages of high maintainability, high vibration isolation and anti-interference capability, high reliability and stability, and full sea depth resistance.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of underwater transducers, and particularly relates to a deep-water modular ear-hanging arc transducer. BACKGROUND

[0002] At present, arc transducers are connected into a whole through bonding and pouring processes, and once damaged, can only be re-prepared as a whole, and cannot be repaired, for example, the damage of the sound-transparent layer and the obstacle collision. The application needs to improve the maintainability and reliability of the arc transducer.

[0003] At present, the active excitation part of the arc transducer is rigidly bonded with the decoupling backing, and the mechanical vibration in the process of the underwater vehicle movement can be directly transmitted to the active excitation part through the backing. In shallow water, the decoupling backing contains more bubbles, and the decoupling effect is better, which can weaken the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation, but under high hydrostatic pressure, the decoupling backing needs to reduce the size and quantity of bubbles and improve the pressure-bearing capacity, which will inevitably weaken the decoupling effect, so that the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation increases, and the sound radiation effect is interfered. Therefore, the current way of isolating the mechanical vibration of the underwater vehicle is not practical under high hydrostatic pressure, and there is a great interference. The application needs to solve the influence of mechanical vibration transmission on the sound performance under high hydrostatic pressure and improve the vibration isolation effect under deep water.

[0004] At present, the active excitation part of the arc transducer is rigidly connected with the decoupling backing by bonding process, and polyurethane foaming material is used as the decoupling backing to provide pressure-resistant support for the active excitation part, but the bonding process is prone to produce small bubble cavities, and there are also a large number of bubble cavities in the polyurethane foaming material, which will cause uneven compression deformation of the support structure under high hydrostatic pressure, so that the arc active excitation part is crushed and fails. Therefore, the current structure transducer cannot work at a large depth. The application needs to solve the problem of deep water pressure resistance.

[0005] At present, the sound-transparent layer of the transducer usually adopts the pouring forming process, and the vulcanization process with lower water permeability is not adopted due to the high-temperature and high-pressure preparation environment which easily affects the decoupling backing and the arc active excitation part. The application needs to solve the influence of the vulcanization process forming condition on the arc transducer, and use the vulcanization process to improve the deep water reliability of the arc transducer.

[0006] In recent years, great efforts have been made in the construction of ocean space stations and large-depth underwater unmanned vehicles AUV / UUV, and the ocean combat has gradually developed from the near sea to the deep sea. These reconnaissance platforms can accurately map the seabed terrain, identify mines, obstacles and frogmen, etc. In order to realize the functions of these unmanned combat platforms, it is urgent to carry a batch of corresponding high-hydrostatic-pressure sonar equipment.

[0007] Arc-shaped transducer is a common transducer structure in sonar system, which has the characteristics of large horizontal direction coverage angle, and is widely used in multi-beam depth sounder, image sonar and forward-looking sonar, etc. for effectively detecting seabed topography and image, but the research on deep water working is less. With the gradual increase of the diving depth of unmanned combat platform, the pressure resistance of arc-shaped transducer is required to be higher. At the same time, the complex deep water working environment also makes the sonar transducer need to pay more attention to the decoupling and vibration isolation capacity and reliability of the equipment.

[0008] At present, the design of arc-shaped transducer usually uses piezoelectric composite material as the active excitation part, which is bonded on the polyurethane foam backing, and the outer side is filled with glue layer for water tightness treatment. The transducer design method makes it difficult to maintain the transducer after forming, and it can only be re-prepared, for example, the water tightness and sound transmission glue layer part, which is easy to have marine organisms attached, and the complex underwater environment is easy to be damaged. Once the sound transmission layer leaks water, it directly affects the work of the active part. At the same time, the decoupling support polyurethane foam material used in this preparation method cannot withstand high hydrostatic pressure, and the preparation process of bonding each part is easy to produce small cavities. Under the action of high hydrostatic pressure, slight deformation of the decoupling support material easily leads to fracture of the arc-shaped active excitation part, which cannot work in deep water. And the rigid bonding method of the active excitation part and the backing also easily transmits the mechanical vibration of the underwater vehicle sailing in deep water to the active excitation part.

[0009] In the prior art, such as "An arc-shaped transducer", the composite piezoelectric material is bonded in the groove of the decoupling arc-shaped backing material, the decoupling arc-shaped backing is bonded with the metal lower cover plate, and the outer side is filled with sound transmission water tightness layer. "Low directivity fluctuating arc-shaped transmitting transducer array" reduces the directivity fluctuation through an elliptical base structure, but the basic structure is consistent. "A deep water pressure resistant underwater sound emitting device" uses the nearly incompressible characteristic of high elastic body of silicone rubber to fill the internal cavity of the metal support, so as to balance the internal and external pressure and resist high hydrostatic pressure, but the basic structure is consistent with the above, that is, the transducer material layer is bonded on the support decoupling layer, and the outer side is filled with glue layer for water tightness. The active excitation part is directly and rigidly connected with the metal bottom plate.

[0010] The arc-shaped transducer cannot be disassembled after being prepared and formed, once a part is damaged, the part cannot be replaced, and the whole device can only be disassembled and re-prepared in the factory. For example, marine organisms grow on the water tightness and sound transmission shell, touch obstacles and damage, the sound transmission layer leaks water, and the electrode of the active excitation part falls off after long time work with high power. The parts of the present application work relatively independently, can be disassembled and replaced, and improve the maintainability and reliability of the transducer.

[0011] The active excitation part of the arc-shaped transducer is rigidly connected with the decoupling backing, and the mechanical vibration during the movement of the submarine can be directly transmitted to the active excitation part through the backing. In shallow water, the decoupling backing contains more bubbles, and the decoupling effect is better, which can weaken the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation, but under high hydrostatic pressure, the decoupling backing needs to reduce the size and number of bubbles and improve the pressure bearing capacity, which will inevitably weaken the decoupling effect, so that the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation increases, and the sound radiation effect is interfered. The invention uses the ear-hanging type elastic suspension damping structure to separate the rigid connection between the active excitation part and the shell, and reduces the influence of the mechanical vibration of the submarine on the transducer.

[0012] The active excitation part of the arc-shaped transducer is rigidly connected with the decoupling backing, and the mechanical vibration during the movement of the submarine can be directly transmitted to the active excitation part through the backing. In shallow water, the decoupling backing contains more bubbles, and the decoupling effect is better, which can weaken the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation, but under high hydrostatic pressure, the decoupling backing needs to reduce the size and number of bubbles and improve the pressure bearing capacity, which will inevitably weaken the decoupling effect, so that the influence of mechanical vibration on active excitation increases, and the sound radiation effect is interfered. The invention uses the ear-hanging type elastic suspension damping structure to separate the rigid connection between the active excitation part and the shell, and reduces the influence of the mechanical vibration of the submarine on the transducer.

[0013] The preparation of the sound-transmitting layer currently adopts the pouring process instead of the vulcanization process which has lower water permeability and higher reliability after solidification. The invention adopts the vulcanization process to prepare the sound-transmitting layer, which is prepared separately through the split design, avoiding the influence of the high-temperature and high-pressure environment of the vulcanization process on the active part and the backing of the transducer. SUMMARY

[0014] In view of the above technical deficiencies, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a deep water modular ear-hanging arc-shaped transducer, which adopts modular design, ear-hanging elastic suspension vibration isolation structure, suspended oil-filled support structure and vulcanization process to prepare the sound-transmitting layer, effectively improving the maintainability, vibration isolation and anti-interference ability, reliability and stability, and full-sea depth resistance of the transducer.

[0015] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides the following technical solutions: a deep water modular lug type arc transducer, which is composed of five parts, i.e. a watertight sound transmission protective shell part, a lug type active excitation part, a pressure resistant decoupling backing part, a metal bottom plate part and an internal filling part. The watertight sound transmission protective shell part and the metal bottom plate part constitute the overall outer shell of the transducer. The lug type active excitation part and the pressure resistant decoupling backing part are located inside the overall outer shell. The internal filling part fills the remaining cavities inside the transducer. The lug type active excitation part is located between the watertight sound transmission protective shell part and the pressure resistant decoupling backing part, and the three parts are fastened by screws. The watertight sound transmission protective shell part is composed of a metal support seat and a rubber shell. The lug type active excitation part is composed of a piezoelectric element and a lug type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer. The metal bottom plate part is provided with an oil injection hole, and the internal filling part fills all the cavity parts.

[0016] Preferably, the watertight sound transmission protective shell part, the lug type active excitation part, the pressure resistant backing part and the metal bottom plate part are all designed as separate modules. After the four parts are independently prepared, they are fastened together by screws. The internal filling part is an oil substance that fills all the cavities. The parts are independent of each other and can be disassembled and replaced with any component.

[0017] Preferably, the lug type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer is wrapped outside the active excitation and extends on both sides to form a lug type structure. The lug type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer is fixed on the metal support seat of the watertight sound transmission protective shell part by screws, so that the active excitation is connected to the transducer shell only through the elastic suspension lug, reducing the transmission of interference vibration caused by rigid connection. The lug type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer is made of any one of polyurethane rubber, neoprene rubber, plastic and other modified materials.

[0018] Preferably, the watertight sound transmission protective shell part is prepared separately by vulcanization process. Since no active excitation and decoupling vibration isolation material is brought in during the preparation of the shell, the influence of the high temperature and high pressure environment of the vulcanization process on the structure can be effectively avoided. The rubber shell in the watertight sound transmission protective shell can be made of any one of neoprene rubber, polyurethane rubber and other modified materials.

[0019] Preferably, the pressure resistant decoupling backing part and the active excitation part are not directly bonded and contacted, and a liquid-filled suspension structure is adopted for micro-deformation self-compensation, so as to avoid the fracture of the arc active excitation part caused by the micro-deformation of the decoupling backing material structure in the deep water state. The pressure resistant decoupling backing part is made of high pressure resistant glass beads or other composite high pressure resistant decoupling vibration isolation materials.

[0020] Preferably, the metal support base in the watertight sound-transmitting protective shell is added with multiple rubber shell fixing groove holes, and circular arc type hollow metal frames are extended on both sides. The fixing groove holes are added to increase the bonding surface of the rubber shell and the metal base to avoid peeling. The arc-shaped metal frame helps to improve the strength of the protective sound-transmitting shell, effectively avoids the damage of the shell impact deformation caused by the complex underwater environment to the internal active excitation, and the hollow design is to reduce the weight.

[0021] Preferably, no bonding process exists in the preparation process of each part, which reduces the microcavity caused by bonding and improves the pressure resistance of the transducer.

[0022] Preferably, the internal filling part can be filled with oil substances for pressure compensation to ensure deep water pressure resistance. Water can also be filled in an overflow manner.

[0023] Preferably, the piezoelectric element adopts a piezoelectric ceramic particle cluster scheme with a skeleton, a circular arc piezoelectric ceramic sheet, or a circular arc piezoelectric composite material.

[0024] The beneficial effects of the present application are as follows:

[0025] 1. Modular preparation: The transducer can be disassembled into five components for assembly, each part is independent of each other, facilitating the maintenance and replacement of the transducer, and effectively improving the maintainability of the transducer.

[0026] 2. Elastic suspension vibration isolation structure of the hanging ear type: The active excitation part is suspended in the oil-filled layer, and only the elastic rubber ear is connected with the shell, effectively reducing the transmission of mechanical vibration, weakening the influence of shell vibration on the active excitation of the transducer, and improving the vibration isolation and anti-interference ability of the transducer.

[0027] 3. Suspended oil-filled support structure of the active excitation part: The active excitation part and the decoupling backing part are separated without bonding, avoiding the small cavities caused by the bonding process, and using oil substances to wrap the active excitation part to form a suspended support structure, so that the transducer has a material micro-deformation self-compensation support effect under high hydrostatic pressure, and can work in full sea depth.

[0028] 4. Watertight sound-transmitting protective shell designed by vulcanization process: Since the watertight sound-transmitting protective shell is prepared in a modular manner without the active excitation part, the watertight sound-transmitting protective shell can be directly vulcanized and formed. The high-temperature and high-pressure vulcanization environment will not affect the active excitation part. The vulcanization process has a lower water seepage rate than pouring, is suitable for deep water work, and effectively improves the reliability of the transducer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is an exploded view of the present application;

[0030] Figure 2 It is a sectional view of the present application;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the invention from another direction;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the metal support base in this invention;

[0033] Figure 5 The response curve of the present invention as tested in physical samples;

[0034] Figure 6 This is the directional curve from the actual test of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] Example 1

[0037] like Figures 1-6 As shown, a deep-water modular hook-type arc transducer consists of five parts: a watertight acoustic protective shell 1, a hook-type active excitation part 2, a pressure-resistant decoupling backing part 3, a metal base plate part 4, and an internal filling part 5. The acoustic protective shell 1 is composed of a metal support base 11 and a rubber shell 12. The hook-type active excitation part is composed of a piezoelectric element 21 and a hook-type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer 22. The metal base plate part 4 has injection holes, and the internal filling part 5 fills all the cavities.

[0038] The watertight, sound-permeable protective shell 1 is manufactured separately using a vulcanization process. Because no piezoelectric components or decoupling and vibration-damping materials are introduced during shell fabrication, the impact of the high-temperature, high-pressure environment of vulcanization on the transducer structure is effectively avoided. Compared to injection-molded shells, the vulcanized protective sound-permeable shell has the advantages of lower water permeability and longer service life.

[0039] refer to Figure 4 The metal support base 11 within the watertight acoustic protective shell features multiple rubber shell mounting slots at its bottom, along with arc-shaped perforated metal frames extending from both sides. The mounting slots increase the bonding surface between the rubber shell and the metal base, preventing peeling. The arc-shaped metal frames enhance the strength of the protective acoustic shell, effectively preventing damage to the internal active excitation from impacts and deformations in complex underwater environments. The perforated design reduces weight.

[0040] The piezoelectric element 21 can adopt a piezoelectric ceramic particle cluster scheme with a skeleton, a circular arc piezoelectric ceramic sheet or a circular arc piezoelectric composite material. The piezoelectric element 21 is welded with a lead wire to prepare an electrode layer, and then the piezoelectric element 21 welded with the electrode lead wire is filled with a hanging ear type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer 22 through a pouring mold by using a vacuum assisted pouring technology. The hanging ear type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer 22 is made of any one of polyurethane rubber, neoprene rubber, plastic and other modified materials, can be wrapped outside the piezoelectric element 21, ensures that the piezoelectric element 21 is independently insulated and water-tight, and the hanging ear type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer 22 poured can effectively avoid the risk of cavity caused by the uneven height of the piezoelectric element welding point. The hanging ear type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer makes the piezoelectric element suspended in the middle of the oil, and does not directly contact the metal shell and the outer shell fixed on the underwater vehicle, which greatly reduces the interference of mechanical vibration on acoustic radiation. At the same time, the suspension structure can make the active excitation part have a micro-deformation pressure compensation effect under high hydrostatic pressure, effectively avoiding the fracture of the active excitation part caused by the slight deformation of the materials of the transducer under high hydrostatic pressure.

[0041] The pressure-resistant decoupling backing part 3 is processed by using high-pressure-resistant glass beads or other composite high-pressure-resistant decoupling and vibration isolation materials.

[0042] The prepared water-tight sound-transparent protective shell part 1, the hanging ear type active excitation part 2 and the pressure-resistant decoupling backing part 3 are fixed together by screws, and then the metal bottom plate 4 is covered, and the internal filling oil is injected through the liquid injection hole on the metal bottom plate 4 to ensure the deep water pressure resistance.

[0043] The components 1-4 are mechanically connected together by screws, the modular components can be replaced by unscrewing the screws, and the problem of a certain component will not affect the remaining components, which improves the maintainability and reliability of the transducer. At the same time, there is no bonding process in the preparation and connection of each component, which effectively avoids the risk of small cavities and improves the deep water pressure resistance reliability.

[0044] Example 2

[0045] The piezoelectric element 21 of the application can adopt a piezoelectric ceramic particle cluster scheme with a skeleton, a circular arc piezoelectric ceramic sheet or a circular arc piezoelectric composite material. The material of the hanging ear type elastic suspension vibration isolation layer 22 is any one of polyurethane rubber, neoprene rubber, plastic and other modified materials. The pressure-resistant decoupling backing part 3 is processed by using high-pressure-resistant glass beads or other composite high-pressure-resistant decoupling and vibration isolation materials. The internal filling layer can be filled with oil to compensate the pressure and ensure the deep water pressure resistance, or can be filled with water in an overflow manner.

[0046] While particular embodiments of the application have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications can be made in the particular embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the application, which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A deep water modular ear-hung arc transducer, characterized by, The water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part, the ear-hanging active excitation part, the pressure-resistant decoupling backing part, the metal bottom plate part, and the internal filling part are combined into five parts, the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part and the metal bottom plate part form the overall outer shell of the transducer, the ear-hanging active excitation part and the pressure-resistant decoupling backing part are located inside the overall outer shell, the internal filling part fills all the cavities inside the transducer, the ear-hanging active excitation part is located between the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part and the pressure-resistant decoupling backing part, and the three are fastened by screws; wherein the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part is composed of a metal support seat and a rubber shell; the ear-hanging active excitation part is composed of a piezoelectric element and an ear-hanging elastic suspension vibration isolation layer; the metal bottom plate part is provided with a liquid injection hole, and the internal filling part is an oil substance; The water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part, the ear-hanging active excitation part, the pressure-resistant backing part, and the metal bottom plate part are all designed as separate modules, and the four are fastened together after being independently prepared, and each part is independent and can be disassembled and replaced with any component; The ear-hanging elastic suspension vibration isolation layer is wrapped outside the active excitation and extends on both sides to form an ear-hanging structure, and is fixed on the metal support base of the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part by screws, so that the active excitation is connected with the transducer shell only through the elastic suspension ear, and the interference vibration transmission caused by rigid connection is weakened; The rubber shell in the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell part is prepared separately by vulcanization process; There is no bonding process in the preparation process of each part, which reduces the micro-cavities caused by bonding.

2. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ear-hanging elastic suspension vibration isolation layer is made of any one of polyurethane rubber, neoprene rubber, plastic and other modified materials.

3. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1 : wherein: The rubber shell in the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell is made of any one of neoprene rubber, polyurethane rubber and other modified materials.

4. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1, wherein: The pressure-resistant decoupling backing part and the active excitation part are not directly bonded and contacted, but use a liquid-filled suspension structure for micro-deformation self-compensation. The pressure-resistant decoupling backing part is made of high-pressure resistant glass beads or other composite high-pressure resistant decoupling and vibration isolation materials.

5. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1, wherein: The metal support seat in the water-tight sound-transmitting protective shell is provided with multiple rubber shell fixing groove holes at the bottom, and arc-shaped hollow metal frames are extended on both sides.

6. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1, wherein: The internal filling part is filled with water in an overflow manner.

7. A deep water modular ear-mounted arc transducer according to claim 1, wherein: The piezoelectric element adopts a piezoelectric ceramic particle cluster scheme with a skeleton, a circular arc piezoelectric ceramic sheet, or a circular arc piezoelectric composite material.

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