Method for the measurement of the underwater transient sound characteristics in a reverberation tank

A method to evaluate the sound power of transient sound sources in reverberation tanks is proposed and tested. The method is based on the steady state sound field characteristics in closed space, which are analyzed by normal-wave theory. To eliminate the interference caused by the boundary of the sound field, the volume integral of the spatial mean-square pressure in local space is measured and the sound power density of the non-anechoic is then obtained. Using the relationship between the sound field in the enclosed space and that of the free field, the sound power of the sound source can be obtained using the measured spatial mean-square pressure. The sound power of an impulsive sound generated by a spherical sound source is measured in a reverberation tank and the results are compared with the sound power measured in anechoic pool to verify the accuracy of the proposed method. The proposed method can be used to measure the radiated sound power of different types of transient sound sources in reverberation tanks.