A Bionic Fish Cilia Median-Low Frequency Three-Dimensional Piezoresistive MEMS Vector Hydrophone

A bionic fish cilia median-low frequency three-dimensional MEMS vector hydrophone is reported in this paper. The piezoresistive reasonable position was obtained through finite element analysis by ANSYS and the structure was formed by MEMS processes including lithography, ion implantation, PECVD and etching,etc. The standing wave barrel results show that the lowest sensitivity of the hydrophone is-200 d B and reach up to-160 d B(in which the voltage amplification factor is 300). It has a good frequency response characteristics in 25 Hz ～ 1500 Hz band. Directivity tests displayed that the hydrophone has a good "8"-shaped directivity,in which the resolution is not less than 30 d B, and asymmetry of the maximum axial sensitivity value is less than 1.2 d B.

Method for Measuring Self-noise of Vector Hydrophones

The Vector Hydrophone(VH) is widely used to remotely detect underwater targets. Accurately measuring the self-noise of the VH provides an important basis for evaluating the performance of the detection system in which it is utilized, since the ability to acquire weak signals is determined by the VH self-noise level. To accurately measure the VH self-noise level in actual working conditions, the Dual-channel Transfer Function Method(DTFM) is proposed to reduce ambient background noise interference. In this paper, the underlying principles of DTFM in reducing ambient background noise is analyzed. The numerical simulations to determine the influence of ambient background noise, and the sensitivity difference of the two VHs on the measurement results are studied. The results of measuring the VH self-noise level in a small laboratory water tank by using DTMF indicate that ambient background noise interference can be reduced effectively by employing DTMF, more accurate self-noise level can be obtained as well. The DTMF provides an effective method for accurately measuring the self-noise level of VHs and also provides technical support for the practical application of the VH in underwater acoustics.

Short Cavity DFB Fiber Laser Based Vector Hydrophone for Low Frequency Signal Detection

A short cavity distributed feedback （DFB） fiber laser is used for low frequency acoustic signal detection. Three DFB fiber lasers with different central wavelengths are chained together to make three-element vector hydrophone with proper sensitivity enhancement design, which has extensive and significant applications to underwater acoustic monitoring for the national defense, oil, gas exploration, and so on. By wavelength-phase demodulation, the lasing wavelength changes under different frequency signals can be interpreted, and the sensitivity is tested about 33 d13 re pm/g. The frequency response range is rather fiat from 5 Hz to 300Hz.

High-resolution azimuth estimation algorithm based on data fusion method for the vector hydrophone vertical array

To aim at the problem that the horizontal directivity index of the vector hy- drophone vertical array is not higher than that of a vector hydrophone, the high-resolution azimuth estimation algorithm based on the data fusion method was presented. The proposed algorithnl first employs MUSIC algorithm to estimate the azimuth of each divided sub-band signal, and then the estimated azimuths of multiple hydrophones are processed by using the data fusion technique. The high-resolution estimated result is achieved finally by adopting the weighted histogram statistics method. The results of the simulation and sea trials indicated that the proposed algorithm has better azimuth estimation performance than MUSIC algorithm of a single vector hydrophone and the data fusion technique based on the acoustic energy flux method. The better performance is reflected in the aspects of the estimation precision, the probability of correct estimation, the capability to distinguish multi-objects and the inhibition of the noise sub-bands.

The characteristics of frequency-time azimuth spectrum estimation by a vector hydrophone in shallow water

The mechanism of interaction between the energy flows of the far-field ship noise and the near-field platform is studied, and the characteristics of frequency-time azimuth spec- trum is discussed. Based on normal modes theory in acoustic vector fields, the model of the near-field platform is established, and the simulated result is similar to the investigation in shallow water. The frequency-time aziinuth spectrum of the energy flow is investigated by the vector hydrophone changes with frequency. The energy flow of the far-field ship noise interacts with the near-field platform, so four kinds of stripes are shown in the frequency4ime azimuth spectrum, which is the same with the investigation of sea trial. The estimation of direction of arrival appears inaccuracy, and varies with frequency. The main factor that affects the charac- teristics of frequency-time azimuth spectrum of resultant energy flow is the difference of sound pressure level. The estimation of the direction of arrival benefits from this when a number of sources exist in shallow water.

Underwater patch near-field acoustical holography based on particle velocity and vector hydrophone array

One-step patch near-field acoustical holography(PNAH) is a powerful tool for identifying noise sources from the partially known sound pressure field.The acoustical property to be reconstructed on the surface of interest is related to the partially measured pressure on the hologram surface in terms of sampling and bandlimiting matrices,which cost more in computation.A one-step procedure based on measuring of the normal component of the particle velocity is described,including the mathematical formulation.The numerical simulation shows that one-step PNAH based on particle velocity can obtain more accurately reconstructed results and it is also less sensitive to noise than the method based on pressure.These findings are confirmed by an underwater near-field acoustical holography experiment conducted with a vector hydrophone array.The experimental results have illustrated the high performance of one-step PNAH based on particle velocity in the reconstruction of sound field and the advantages of a vector hydrophone array in an underwater near-field measurement.

Research on the relaxor ferroelectric single crystal flexural beam vector hydrophone

A two-dimensional vector hydrophone was developed utilizing the PMN-PT relaxor ferroelectric single crystal,which is composed of a dual-axis piezoelectric composite flexural beam accelerometer and PZT-5 piezoelectric ceramic rings.Based on the principle of elastic mechanics and underwater particle velocity measurement,the receiving voltage sensitivity of the flexural beam vector hydrophone is derived.The influence of stress distribution in the flexural beam on the performance of hydrophones is analyzed,and the match between PMNPT single crystal cells and the structure of flexural beam is studied.The tested results indicate that the PMN-PT hydrophone presents an 11 dB increase in sensitivity and a 3 dB decrease in self-noise than the PZT-5 one.

Recent Progress in Fiber-Optic Hydrophones

Fiber-optic hydrophone (FOH) is a significant type of acoustic sensor, which can be used in both military and civilian fields such as underwater target detection, oil and natural gas prospecting, and earthquake inspection. The recent progress of FOH is introduced from five aspects, including large-scale FOH array, very-low-frequency detection, fiber-optic vector hydrophone (FOVH), towed linear array, and deep-sea and long-haul transmission. The above five aspects indicate the future development trends in the FOH research field, and they also provide a guideline for the practical applications of FOH as well as its array.

Bionic MEMS for Touching and Hearing Sensations: Recent Progress, Challenges, and Solutions

This paper reviews the recent progress on bionic microelectromechanical systems(MEMS)used for touching and hearing sensations,focusing on the following three types of devices:MEMS tactile sensors,MEMS directional microphones,and MEMS vector hydrophones.After reviewing the electromechanical coupling principles,design,and performance of these MEMS devices,the authors conclude that it is vital for future research efforts in bionic MEMS to focus more on microfabrication technologies.The development of robust microfabrication flows is the basis to implement hybrid electromechanical coupling principles based on novel functional materials.High-quality polymeric micromachining technologies can also significantly enhance the potential of existing bionic MEMS designs for more practical applications.

A data-driven method for estimating the target position of low-frequency sound sources in shallow seas

Estimating the target position of low-frequency sound sources in a shallow sea environment is difficult due to the high cost of hydrophone placement and the complexity of the propagation model.We propose a compressed recurrent neural network(C-RNN)model that compresses the signal received by a vector hydrophone into a dynamic sound intensity signal and compresses the target position of the sound source into a GeoHash code.Two types of data are used to carry out prior training on the recurrent neural network,and the trained network is subsequently used to estimate the target position of the sound source.Compared with traditional mathematical models,the C-RNN model functions independently under the complex sound field environment and terrain conditions,and allows for real-time positioning of the sound source under low-parameter operating conditions.Experimental results show that the average error of the model is 56 m for estimating the target position of a low-frequency sound source in a shallow sea environment.