Comparison of piezoelectric flextentional sonar transducer simulations between a coupled FE-BEM and ATILA code

A piezoelectric flextentional sonar transducer has been simulated using a coupled FE-BEM. The dynamics of the sonar transducer is modelled in three dimensions and is analyzed with external electrical excitation conditions. Different results are available such as steady-state displacement modes, underwater directivity patterns, resonant frequencies, bandwidths, quality factors, output acoustic powers and transmitting voltage responses. It is shown that the present barrel-stave sonar transducer of the piezoelectric material produces flextentional displacements which could be related with higher output power, lower quality factor and more omnidirectional beam pattern than other types of sonar transducers. The results of the present sonar transducer modelling are also compared with those of a commercial package such as ATILA.