Acoustic underwater propulsion system based on ultrasonic disc PZT transducer

An autonomous swimmer with the acoustic propulsion system is proposed and evaluated in novel area of acoustofluidic actuation. The ultrasonic transducer has the same or higher propulsion power with the nanometer/micrometer vibration amplitude and the MHz/kHz frequency, compared with the locomotion of jellyfish body. The sound pressure and flow velocity measurements demonstrate the higher-pressure gradient and fluid downstream to investigate the acoustic propulsion force generated by pushing the surrounding water rearward. The performance of acoustic propulsion system is thus evaluated based on the sound pressure and flow velocity measurements equivalently. The vibration distributions in the transducer surface exhibit a ripple effect and gradually decayed from the center to the edge. The radial distributions of the sound pressure and flow velocity in water match the surface vibration amplitudes for thickness-vibration-mode. Based on the investigation of two thickness-vibration-mode PZT disc transducers, the longitudinal sound pressure and flow velocity in the normal direction result in ZSP force. The power radiated by the longitudinal vibration on the surface of the transducer is shown to be the main cause of the propulsion power. The propulsion calculation with vibration velocity is studied to evaluate the propulsion force. For an input power, the acoustic propulsion system with a higher Q-factor transducer has better performance. Autonomous underwater acoustic propulsion systems have a small size, high power density, and a simple structure, making them suitable for pipeline robots, endovascular microrobots, and underwater drones.