A miniature class V flextensional cymbal transducer with directional beam patterns: the double-driver

The "double-driver" cymbal, a directional class V flextensional transducer, is described in this paper. Its basic structure is a bilaminar piezoelectric disk with metal caps as mechanical transformers and amplifiers. The directivity was accomplished by exciting the double-driver in a combined flexural and bending mode causing the sound pressure to add in one direction and cancel in the opposite direction. The cardioid beam pattern predicted by finite element modeling agreed well with the experimental measurements. A 3 x 3 double-driver array was constructed to demonstrate that under optimal conditions the array can provide a directional beam pattern with a front-to-back ratio of more than 20 dB.