The cymbal transducer is a compact variant of the Class V flextensional transducer. In broadband underwater communication systems, hydrophones are required to provide both high sensitivity and wide receiving bandwidth in the low-frequency range. This study proposes a design methodology and configuration strategy for a cymbal array hydrophone capable of delivering broadband, high-sensitivity performance. While the finite element method (FEM) is commonly employed to design underwater transducers, it becomes computationally intensive when applied to transducer arrays. To overcome this limitation, we developed a novel equivalent circuit model that enables efficient performance evaluation of cymbal array hydrophones. The accuracy of the proposed circuit was validated by comparing its calculated receiving voltage sensitivity (RVS) with results obtained through FEM analysis. Using the equivalent circuit, we analyzed the acoustic performance of the array hydrophone with respect to key array design parameters, including cymbal position, quantity, center frequency, and polarity. Based on this analysis, we identified an optimal structure for a cymbal array hydrophone that achieves high sensitivity and wide bandwidth in the low-frequency range. Furthermore, we established a set of configuration rules to guide the design of cymbal arrays of arbitrary dimensions, with the goal of maximizing low-frequency bandwidth.
Kim et al. (Wed,) studied this question.