Influence of the conical seamount on underwater sound propagation in a 3D shallow sea environment

Abstract

Abstract The sound field of a 3D shallow sea environment with a conical submarine mountain is simulated and calculated using the finite element method. To verify the accuracy of the finite element calculation results, the effects of submarine mountain height and sound source depth on sound-propagation characteristics are evaluated. The simulation results indicate that owing to the reflection and concentration of acoustic energy due to the submarine mountain, before the sound wave reaches the subsea mountain, the impact of subsea mountain on the acoustic energy can reach 10 dB. In addition, the sound energy is hindered by the seamount. Therefore, the sound energy loss after the sound wave reaches the subsea mountain is higher than the sound energy loss in the absence of the seamount under the same circumstance, and the maximum is up to 20 dB. The larger the seamount height and sound source depth, the more significant the blocking and accumulation of the sound energy.