Sonar acoustics

The problem of producing a model to determine the beam pattern produced by a sonar set in the form of a circular cylinder with hemispherical end caps is studied. The beam width and the position of the beam centre are also considered and the results of the models are compared with experimental findings. Possible reasons for the discrepancies between these theoretical and experimental results are examined, providing insight into developing more sophisticated mathematical models. The beam patterns were produced using a combination of Matlab and Fortran 77 programs incorporating subroutines from the NAG library. Experimental results and data are included with the kind permission of Thomson Marconi Sonar Systems Ltd