Underwater Acoustics

Course #PH3452

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Clock Est. completion in 3 months

Location pin Offered through Distance Learning

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Overview

This course is a continuation of PH3451. Lumped acoustic elements and the resonant bubble; introduction to simple transducers; normal modes in rectangular and cylindrical enclosures; steady-state response of acoustic waveguides of constant cross section, propagating evanescent modes, and group and phase speeds; transmission of sound in the ocean, the Eikonal Equation and necessary space conditions for ray theory, and refraction and ray diagrams; sound propagation in the mixed layer, the convergence zone, and the deep sound channel; passive sonar equation, ambient noise and doppler effect and bandwidth considerations; active sonar equations, target strength and reverberation. Laboratory experiments include Helmholtz resonators, normal modes in rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical enclosures, water-filled waveguide, noise analysis, impedance of a loudspeaker.

Included in Degrees & Certificates

  • 535

Prerequisites

  • PH3451

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, a student will be able to: Plot and analyze ray paths in isogradient layers of water; Calculate the reflection and transmission of plane sound waves incident on the planar interface between two different fluids; Estimate transmission loss for simple models such as mixed layer, convergence zone, bottom bounce, reliable acoustic path, and SOFAR channel; Set up underwater acoustics experiments, acquire reliable data, and use the acoustic measurements to characterize the system; Use sonobuoy data to calculate the speed, depth, and distance of closest approach of an uncooperative target; Determine source levels and beam patterns for sources and arrays of scalar and vector sensors; Evaluate detected noise levels and reverberation levels for various environmental conditions; Calculate the target strength of basic scatterers, including gas bubbles; For given sonar and target characteristics, estimate the range of detection.