An investigation on the behaviour of PDMS as a membrane material for underwater acoustic sensing

Present study consists the behaviour of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a vibrating membrane for acoustic signal detection application. Modelling and simulation work was performed using ANSYS 12. 1. Theory of acoustic impedance showed that PDMS acting as an acoustic membrane is acoustically matched when operated in water rather than air with 96. 7% energy transfer efficiency. Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the membrane deflection was studied for a very shallow application with depth level ranging from 0 to 1m. Effect of PDMS structural geometry on its deflection behaviour was also studied by varying the radius and thickness of the membrane structure. Finally, according to the deflection theory, the type of membrane deflection was classified based on the variation of radius to thickness ratio of the membrane as well as the applied pressure.