Solid state device for reducing target strength

Abstract

A device for deflecting acoustic waves for an object in a liquid environment includes an electrical power source located in the object. A heating grid is positioned about the object in the liquid environment, and a cooling grid is also positioned about the object in the liquid environment such that the heating grid is located between the object and the cooling grid. A least one Peltier device is joined to the electrical power source and the cooling grid for providing cooling. Resistance heating or the Peltier device can be joined to the heating grid for providing heating.

Claims

1. A device for deflecting acoustic waves from a potential source comprising: an object positionable in a liquid environment; a direct current electrical power source located in said object; a heating grid positioned about said object in the liquid environment and being capable of producing heat; a cooling grid positioned about said object between said object and the potential source in the liquid environment such that said heating grid is located between said object and said cooling grid, said cooling grid being capable of absorbing heat; and at least one Peltier effect device having an inner surface and an outer surface, said Peltier effect device being joined to said electrical power source and said cooling grid for providing cooling, wherein said heating grid and said cooling grid are capable of creating a temperature gradient in the liquid environment causing acoustic waves to bend away from said object.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said Peltier effect device is further joined to said heating grid for providing heating.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said Peltier effect device comprises: a plurality of p-type semiconductor elements; and a plurality of n-type semiconductor elements wherein said plurality of p-type semiconductor elements are joined in an alternating series with said plurality of n-type semiconductor elements and the alternating series is connected to said direct current electrical power source, said outer surface of said Peltier effect device is joined to said cooling grid and said inner surface of said Peltier effect device is joined to said heating grid.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising resistance heating elements joined to said electrical power source and positioned in said heating grid.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein: said heating grid is minimally acoustically reflective in comparison to said object; and said cooling grid is minimally acoustically reflective in comparison to said object.

6. A device for deflecting acoustic waves for an object in a liquid environment comprising: a direct current electrical power source located in the object; a heating grid positioned about the object in the liquid environment and being capable of producing heat; a cooling grid positioned about the object in the liquid environment such that said heating grid is located between the object and said cooling grid, said cooling grid being capable of absorbing heat; and at least one Peltier effect device joined to said electrical power source and said cooling grid for providing cooling wherein said heating grid and said cooling grid are capable of establishing a temperature gradient of at least 30 C./mm between said heating grid and said cooling grid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of the speed of sound in seawater versus temperature at atmospheric pressure and salinity of 35 parts per thousand;

(2) FIG. 2 illustrates Snell's law for an incident ray crossing a boundary between media having different acoustic characteristics;

(3) FIG. 3 illustrates an uncloaked object in an underwater environment presenting a relatively high target strength to conventional sonar;

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates a cloaked object located behind a relatively narrow band or region in the underwater environment having a sound propagation characteristic different than the ambient environment sufficient for producing localized bending of incident sound rays away from the object;

(5) FIG. 5 illustrates in schematic form a device for cloaking a submerged object employing a heating element and a cooling element proximate to and in spaced relationship with the object;

(6) FIG. 6 illustrates in schematic form a device for cloaking a submerged object in motion, employing a heating element proximate to and in spaced relationship with the object;

(7) FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention employing a heat pump; and

(8) FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a Peltier effect device for producing heating and cooling effects resulting in a temperature gradient in the underwater environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) As illustrated in FIG. 4, there is shown an object 10 having a surface 12 positioned in the underwater environment 14. A device for producing an acoustic cloak 22 is provided proximate to the object 10 in the path of incident or incoming acoustic rays 16. The cloak 22 deflects incident rays 16 away from the object 10. The cloak 22 is defined as a relatively narrow band of seawater proximate to the object 10 having acoustic properties or characteristics sufficient to cause localized bending of the sound rays away from the object 10. In the exemplary arrangement, the object 10 has a central axis A and the cloak 22 is disposed proximate to the object 10 along the axis and conformal with the surface of the object 10 as shown.

(10) As noted above, the speed of sound c in a fluid, e.g., seawater, is variously affected by a number of parameters including temperature T and salinity. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a selected region of the fluid is heated or cooled or both in order to provide in the band a temperature gradient T.sub.g sufficient to cause the incident rays 16 to be deflected away from the object 10. A temperature gradient of at least about 30 C./mm appears to be sufficient to deflect the incident rays 16 and thereby significantly reduce the target strength of the object 10 to reduce the effectiveness of conventional sonar.

(11) The underwater environment 14 has an ambient temperature T.sub.a, and cloak 22 creates a temperature gradient T.sub.g differing from the ambient temperature. The cloak 22 is further defined as a region or volume of water proximate to the body 10 having an inner boundary 26 and an outer boundary 28 and being interposed between the body and a source (not shown) of incident acoustic rays 16. The outer boundary 28 is spaced from the outer surface 12 of the object 10 to be cloaked. The inner boundary 26 is intermediate the outer surface 12 and outer boundary 28, and generally conforms to the outer surface 12 of the object 10. The inner and outer boundaries 26 and 28 are spaced apart by a distance or thickness s. The cloak 22 has a temperature gradient T.sub.g extending between the respective inner and outer boundaries over the distance s.

(12) As illustrated, the cloak 22 comprises a narrow region in the underwater or ambient environment 14 wherein the speed of sound c in the cloak 22 changes with respect to the speed of sound in the surrounding ambient seawater 14. As the incident acoustic ray 16 encounters the outer boundary 28 or interface between the cloak 22 and ambient seawater 14, the temperature gradient T.sub.g in the cloak 22 causes a change in the speed of sound at the outer boundary 28 sufficient to cause the incident ray 16 to be deflected away from the object 10 resulting in a deflected or refracted ray 16r.

(13) The temperature gradient T.sub.g sufficient to bend incident rays may be produced by heating or cooling or both heating and cooling the underwater environment at or near one or the other or both of the boundaries 28 and 26. The temperature gradient T.sub.g is effective to cause the incoming acoustic ray 16 to bend in a direction away from the object 10 in accordance with Snell's Law, referred to above. If bending is sufficient, the incident rays 16 are either deflected as rays 16r away from the object 10 so that no reflections are produced, or the angle of the incident rays is changed so that the reflected rays have reduced sensible energy, thereby reducing the target strength of the object 10.

(14) FIG. 5 illustrates in schematic form a device 30 for cloaking the submerged object 10 employing a cooling grid 32 and a heating grid 34, each being disposed proximate to each other and in spaced relationship with the outer surface 12 of the object 10. The device 30 produces the cloak 22 having thickness s, temperature gradient T.sub.g, and resulting characteristic speed of sound.

(15) In the illustrated embodiment, the cooling grid (outer grid) 32 is located near the outer boundary 28 and the heating grid (inner grid) 34 is located near the inner boundary 26.

(16) The cooling grid 32 and the heating grid 34 are each positionable in heat transfer relation with the ambient seawater 14. When energized, the heating grid 34 heats the water near immediately near it at the inner boundary, and the cooling grid 32 cools the water immediately near it at the outer boundary resulting in a temperature gradient in the region 22 between the inner and outer boundaries sufficient to deflect incoming acoustic rays.

(17) In FIG. 6 the object 10 is shown in motion in a direction indicated by arrow 35. A heating grid 36 is effective by itself to establish cloak 22 having a temperature T.sub.g gradient sufficient to deflect incoming acoustic rays 16 directed at a moving object 10. In this embodiment, heating grid 36 can be in the form of a mesh screen formed of woven electrical conductors coupled to a source of electrical power 38. The conductors have electrical properties and are sized such that when energized by the power source 38, the heating grid 36 produces a temperature gradient T.sub.g of at least about 30 C./mm which is sufficient to deflect incoming acoustic rays. The size and spacing between the woven conductors is selected so that the grid 36 is acoustically unreflective when compared to the outer surface 12 of the object 10, and thus represents a negligible target strength compared to the resulting cloaked target strength of the uncloaked object. In other words, the conductors (and grid 36) is effectively transparent to the incoming rays, and it does not reflect energy sufficient to significantly increase the target strength of the object.

(18) In FIG. 7, an embodiment using a heat pump is shown. Object 10 to be cloaked contains a power source 50 joined to a pump or compressor 52. The pump 52 increases the pressure in a working fluid such as Freon, ammonia, water or any other acceptable working fluid and provides the high pressure working fluid at a pump output 54. Pump output 54 provides the pressurized working fluid to the condenser 56 which acts as the inner grid. The condenser 56 gives up heat, warming a layer of seawater around the object 10. The cooler, high pressure working fluid returns to the object 10 and enters a throttle valve 58 at an input 60. Throttle valve 58 reduces the working fluid's pressure. The working fluid is provided to throttle valve output 62. Throttle valve output 62 is joined to an evaporator 64 which acts as the outer grid. Evaporator 64 absorbs heat in a layer of seawater around the object 10. Heated, low pressure working fluid then enters the pump 52 at a pump input 66. Thus, condenser 56 and evaporator 64 create cloak 22 having a temperature gradient. The condenser and evaporator lines are closely spaced with respect to each other for defining the relatively narrow cloak 22 of seawater exhibiting the desired temperature gradient sufficient to bend the path of the acoustic rays directed toward the object. In this embodiment, the condenser 56 and evaporator 64 must not be significantly acoustically reflective and must allow heat transfer between the working fluid and the environment 14.

(19) FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the invention employing a solid state cloaking device 80 for object 10. The device 80 comprises a current source 82 and a plurality of p-type semiconductor devices 84 and n-type semiconductor devices 86 disposed about object 10. The p-type semiconductor device 84 comprises thermoelectric material, preferably a semiconductor such as p-doped bismuth-telluride. The n-type semiconductor device 86 comprises a thermoelectric material, preferably n-doped bismuth-telluride. In the exemplary embodiment, these devices 84 and 86 are positioned in a region 88 having inner surface portions 90 and outer surface portions 92. The p-type devices 84 and the n-type devices 86 are connected with each other in an alternating series configuration across the current source 82 forming a Peltier thermoelectric device.

(20) Inner surface portions 90 of each of the p-type device 84 or n-type device 86 operate as a heat discharging portion of the thermoelectric device, thereby operating as a heating grid for the device 80. The outer surface portions 92 of each of the respective p-type and n-type semiconductor devices 84 and 86 operate when energized as a heat absorbing device for cooling the ambient seawater 14 as a cooling grid. Together the inner surface portion 90 and outer surface portion 92 establish cloak 22 proximate to the object 10 which has a temperature gradient T.sub.g sufficient to cause localized bending of acoustic rays away from the object 10. In another embodiment, heating grid could be augmented by providing resistance heating elements.

(21) The invention described by example in this specification can be configured differently within the scope of the claims. For example, in FIG. 4, inner boundary 26 could be a structure that is warmed by a triggered exothermic chemical reaction. Outer boundary 28 could be a structure that is cooled by a triggered endothermic reaction. Furthermore, heating and cooling grids do not need to be spherical or cover the entire surface of the object being cloaked. Accordingly, this invention should not be limited by any of the specifically shown embodiments. In light of the above, it is therefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.