A piezoelectric, flexural-disk, neutrally buoyant, underwater accelerometer

A piezoelectric, flexural-disk accelerometer for underwater use is composed of two PZT-5A lead zirconate-titanate disks that are bonded to an aluminum substrate. The substrate is edge-supported inside an aluminum housing. The housing is enclosed in syntactic foam so that the sensor is neutrally buoyant. The overall height is 1.0 in. (26 mm), the overall diameter is 1.9 in. (49 mm), and the total mass is 0.054 kg. With 25 ft (7.6 m) of (230 pF/m) cable attached, the sensitivity is -42 dB re 1 V-s/sup 2//m (-22 dB re 1 V/g), the capacitance is 5.0 nF, and the resonance frequency is 11 kHz. When used in conjuction with a Micro Networks MN3210 preamplifier, the spectral noise-equivalent acceleration floor is approximately -171 dB re 1 m/s/sup 2/-/spl radic/Hz (-151 dB re 1 g//spl radic/Hz) at 5 kHz.