An Experimental Study of Sound Transmission from Air Into Bubbly Water

Abstract

Sound transmission from air into water in the long wavelength limit is enhanced by the presence of large concentrations of small bubbles. Simple acoustic theory shows that considerable enhancement can take place because the bubbles lower the acoustic impedance of the water and thus decrease the impedance mismatch between air and water. However, impedance matching cannot totally account for the very large increases in acoustic pressure that have been observed in laboratory experiments in a simple hydroacoustic tank (not acoustically damped). In these experiments, sound pressures measured near the apex of a conical shaped bubbly region (apex at its bottom) have been found to be as much as two orders of magnitude greater, at certain frequencies, than pressures measured at the same place in the tank in the absence of bubbles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA021422

Entities

People

  • Bruce Maccabee

Organizations

  • Naval Ordnance Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Impedance
  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Acoustics
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Bands
  • Geometry
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Measurement
  • Plane Waves
  • Refractive Index
  • Resonance
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Sound Pressure
  • Sound Transmission
  • Sound Waves
  • Water Tanks

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Fluid Dynamics.