Calculation of the acoustic nearfield of vibrating structures from vibration measurements. Applications to sonar arrays

This paper presents the results of an investigation of two simple techniques that allow prediction of nearfield pressure of a vibrating structure from limited measured vibration data. One method is based on wave decomposition and the other on a variant of the superposition technique. The aim of this work was to develop methods of characterising the effects of mechanical self noise on passive sonars of submarines, but these methods may be applied to many other problems in air and underwater. Experimental validation was performed on a setup consisting of an underwater flank array attached to a structure representing part of a submarine hull. The results of both methods are in good agreement with pressures measured by the individual hydrophones of the array.