Solid Marine Seismic Cable with Polyurethane Buoyancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing marine seismic cables face challenges in achieving superior acoustic performance, rugged construction, long-term stability, flexibility, and ease of use, particularly due to issues with liquid-filled cables that are prone to noise and damage, and solid cables that are stiff and unwieldy.
Innovation Solution
A fully-solid seismic cable design featuring a rigid tubular substrate with an annular cavity, a flexible piezoelectric element wrapped around a tubular diaphragm, and a molded portion, which eliminates the need for liquids or gels by using polyurethane for buoyancy and incorporates a novel architecture for strength members and electrical through-wires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If liquid-filled cables are used to achieve buoyancy, then the cable can float neutrally, but the cable becomes sensitive to acoustic noise and prone to damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the liquid filler from the cable construction entirely, extracting the source of acoustic noise and vulnerability. The buoyancy function is transferred to solid flotation elements integrated into the cable structure, eliminating the harmful liquid-filled design while maintaining neutral buoyancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the buoyancy medium from liquid to solid. By using solid flotation elements instead of liquid fillers, the cable achieves both acoustic immunity and mechanical durability while maintaining neutral buoyancy through adjusted solid material density and volume.
2Reliability
If solid streamers are used to eliminate liquid-filled issues, then acoustic performance improves, but the cable becomes stiff and unwieldy during deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cable into functional segments: a flexible backbone structure for ease of deployment, separate solid flotation elements for buoyancy, and integrated hydrophone assemblies. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its properties without compromising the others, maintaining flexibility while achieving solid construction acoustic benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction combining flexible polymer materials for the cable backbone with solid flotation elements and hydrophone assemblies. This composite approach integrates the flexibility needed for deployment with the acoustic performance of solid construction, avoiding the stiffness problem of purely solid streamers.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If gel-filled design is used to reduce noise sensitivity, then some acoustic improvement is achieved, but the construction remains difficult and noise sensitivity persists
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the gel filler entirely from the construction, eliminating both the manufacturing complexity and the residual noise sensitivity issues. Buoyancy is achieved through solid flotation elements that are simpler to manufacture and integrate, avoiding the difficulties of gel handling and placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses simple, easily manufactured solid flotation elements instead of complex gel-filled structures. These solid components are simpler to produce, easier to handle during assembly, and provide more reliable long-term performance without the manufacturing challenges of gel materials.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a seismic cable with improved acoustic performance, durability, flexibility, and ease of use, while maintaining neutral buoyancy without the drawbacks of liquid-filled cables, such as noise sensitivity and damage susceptibility.
Implementation Method 1
a flexible piezoelectric element wrapped around and bonded to the flexible tubular diaphragm
Implementation Method 2
Over-molding with a polyurethane or other substantially light material adds buoyancy to the cable
Data Source
AI summary
In a first embodiment of the present invention, a hydrophone is provided comprising: a rigid tubular substrate; an annular cavity formed around the rigid tubular substrate by affixing a tubular diaphragm around the rigid tubular substrate; a flexible piezoelectric element wrapped around and bonded to the flexible tubular diaphragm; and a molded portion covering the piezoelectric element.