Ocean acoustic tomography (OAT) is primarily concerned with themapping of an ocean interior by the use of acoustic transponders dottedaround the periphery of an ocean basin. By measuring the meantime-of-flight of the acoustic emanations between source and receiverpairs and using suitable inversion algorithms, it is possible to obtaina synoptic view of temperature and current flow over areas extendingseveral hundred kilometres. Central to the success of OAT is thedevelopment of a low frequency, low Q, high power, compact projectorwhich is able to operate at great depths. In this paper, a pressurecompensation method is applied to a barrel-stave flextensionaltransducer designed for this application. This method entails fillingthe internal cavity of the device with a low acoustic impedance fluidand inserting a compliant material within the fluid so that the largedepth requirements can be met. Finite element methods are used topredict the effect on performance of this configuration for varyingvolumes of compliant material. The alternative method of free floodingthe device is also investigated
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