Fundamentals Applications Of Acoustics

The course introduces the fundamentals physical principles of acoustics and focuses on hearing and ultrasonic sound propagation in fluids; plane wave and sonar equations, sound speed dependencies and propagation modelling will be discussed.

Different types of acoustic systems and the role of acoustic systems in underwater environments will be considered. As ultrasound is widely used in medical applications this course will focus on medical ultrasonic applications for diagnosis and for treatments purpose.

This course is portioned into fundamental acoustics, wave equations, sound propagation and sound modelling. The specific arrangement is:

• Introduction to physical acoustics, wave equations, reflection, equivalent network, piston and Rayleigh integral.
• Solutions to wave equations, sound speed profiles, 2D parabolic wave equation, underwater acoustic modelling, and sound propagation in the ocean.
• Sonar wave equation, reflections, scattering and backscattering. Introduction to sonar systems and application in target detection and ranging.
• Bioacoustics:

a) Sound generation and sound perception in human beings: from vocal cords to frequency resolution of the cochlea.

b) Application of sound propagation, transmission losses, sound exposure levels and impact on the marine environment.

• Medical Ultrasound: introduction to diagnostic ultrasound, sound emission from bubbles, and therapeutical ultrasound.