Hydrophone calibration between 1 kHz and 10 kHz using elastic waveguides

Abstract

Modern techniques for hydrophone calibration from IEC 60565:2020 typically require sensors to be placed in a free field or within a hydrostatically varying chamber. At mid-frequencies (defined as 1 kHz–10 kHz), the wavelength is too long for free-field conditions in tanks available to most manufacturers and academics. A novel technique to calibrate hydrophones is investigated to address the measurement gap between very-low-frequency (0.1 Hz–1 kHz) and high-frequency (10 kHz–200 kHz) techniques. The measurement environment consists of a 12-meter length of copper tubing that is coiled into a 1-meter diameter helix. Propagation in the elastic waveguide decreases the speed of sound within the apparatus and the wavelength relative to its free-space equivalent. This provides a longer reverb-free time within which to make the calibration measurements using a small (<1 m3) volume. To increase the gain of the system, the recorded files are matched filtered against normalized transmission replicas to determine the signal energy at the receiver. The propagation within the waveguide is studied, including investigating the modal dispersion and channel gain. Calibrations are performed on multiple Ocean Sonics icListen hydrophones, including independently calibrated reference units, using an uncalibrated source to determine the accuracy and precision of the system.