A general mathematical model of distributed transducer shading, or spatial gain-weighting, is developed for 1-D distributed actuators and sensors, valid for both strain and hydrostatic mode devices. Means for constructing shaded distributed actuators and sensors using shaped electrodes are reviewed. Singularity functions and other complete sets of functions are used to parameterize shadings. Modal and wavenumber interpretations of shading kernels are deduced. Hardware applications are presented from structural control, hydrodynamics, and high- resolution sonar sensing. A conformal, real-time hydrodynamic center of pressure sensor is described. A novel sonar sensor is presented that utilizes two coincident, distributed, shaded piezopolymer sensors to provide high-resolution target bearing estimates. In each of these applications, sensor shading is accomplished by suitably shaping the charge collection electrodes deposited on the sensing layer to provide two coincident distributed devices having a prescribed mathematical relationship spatially, yielding devices that cannot be realized using either discrete or unshaded distributed transducers.

Date Published: 8 September 1993
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 1917, Smart Structures and Materials 1993: Smart Structures and Intelligent Systems, (8 September 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.152798

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1917:
Smart Structures and Materials 1993: Smart Structures and Intelligent Systems
Nesbitt W. Hagood; Gareth J. Knowles, Editor(s)