Optimization of transmitting beam patterns of a conformal transducer array

A method is presented to calculate the driving-voltage weighting vector of a conformal array of underwater acoustic transmitting transducers to obtain a low-sidelobe beam pattern based on the measured receiving array manifold. The relationship among three quantities is given, which are, respectively, the radiated acoustic field, the measured receiving array manifold matrix and the driving-voltage weighting vector of the transducer array. Then, the driving-voltage weighting vector of the array is calculated using the optimization method to obtain a low-sidelobe transmitting beam pattern. At the frequency of 12.5 kHz, the receiving array manifold matrix of a 27-element conformal array is measured in an anechoic water tank. The driving-voltage weighting vector of the array is calculated using the proposed method. In addition, the computer simulation and experiments are carried out. The results agree well and show that the proposed method can obtain a low-sidelobe transmitting beam pattern and at the same time provide the largest amplitude of pressure in the axial direction when the maximum amplitude of the driving voltages of the array elements keeps unchanged.