Module overview
Sound is a vital tool for exploring and understanding the underwater environment, it also plays a key role in many biomedical applications. This module will describe the underlying physics of sound propagation in liquids and discusses the engineering challenges when designing and assessing underwater acoustic systems.
The module will consider the underlying physical principles explaining the phenomena observed in the ocean. It will consider the basic principles underlying how sound propagates and provide an understanding of some of the basics of understanding rudimentary models of sound transmission.
It will describe the different types of acoustic systems and will consider how man-made systems can be analysed to make design decisions. These design principles are then applied to understand how marine mammals echolocate in the ocean. The role of acoustic systems in the conservation of these animals is also discussed.
Ultrasound is widely used in medicine not only for diagnosis, but also for therapeutic purposes and for treatments. The sound fields employed in such systems typically result in non-linear propagation. This module considers how non-linearity affects sound fields and considers use of ultrasound in a biomedical context.