Cost-Effective Technologies for Fabrication of PiezoCrystal Vector Velocity Sensors

Applied Physical Sciences (APS) has developed a plan to improve the design and development of submarine towed array vector sensors that employ single crystal accelerometers so that they meet Navy specifications, but do so at significantly lower cost relative to earlier variants. Tasks in the Phase I study include developing a comprehensive cost-model which will ascertain the feasibility of various fabrication approaches for all the components that comprise the entire sensor. As a part of this process, APS has teamed with TRS Technologies to evaluate innovative electroding and bonding techniques to reduce the costs single crystal accelerometers. With that, the proposed effort centers on a series of analytical and numerical evaluations, proof-of-concept experiments, and an assessement of a prototype vector sensor suitable for towed array applications.