Further development of high-amplitude underwater sound sources at The University of Texas Applied Research Laboratories

Abstract

Following the early research on the Combustive Sound Source (CSS), described in the previous talk, additional development occurred in the 2000’s and beyond, which included work on both the CSS and a new source, the Rupture Induced Underwater Sound Source (RIUSS). Development of the CSS in this era included maximizing the output of the source, investigating the use of CSS in arrays, and towing the source. The CSS was also deployed in surveys conducted during Shallow Water ’06 and the Seabed Characterization Experiment. In part due to lessons learned during those surveys, the RIUSS was conceived and developed. The RIUSS functions by placing a rupture disk over an evacuated chamber and mechanically breaking the disk (either by striking on demand or via hydrostatic pressure) at a specified depth to initiate a volume collapse that produces an impulsive acoustic waveform. The development and use of each sound source will be provided along with high-speed underwater video, examples of signatures, and examples of the efficacy of the sources in ocean acoustics research. [Work Supported by ONR and NAVO].