Construction and Evaluation of a Planar Fiber-Optic Hydrophone for Military Applications

摘要

Planar fiber-optic inferometric hydrophones can be used in hydrophone arrays mounted on the hull of underwater vehicles. This report describes the construction, the choice of materials and the characteristics of a planar fiber optic hydrophone. The optical fibers are wound in a spiral and embedded in a material to increase the acoustic sensitivity. Polyurethane was found to be a suitable material. Expressions relating the strain applied to the fiber to the induced optical phase change are derived. The frequency response of the hydrophone and the mechanical resonances in the plates are discussed. Finally the theoretical considerations are compared to experimental results.