Longitudinal Monostatic Acoustic Effective Bulk Modulus and Effective Density Evaluation of Underground Soil Quality: A Numerical Approach

• Main Authors: Yuqi Jin, Tae-Youl Choi, Arup Neogi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-12-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: ultrasonic elastography; underground detection; soil inspection; underwater acoustics
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/1/146

In this study, we introduce a novel method using longitudinal sound to detect underground soil voids to inspect underwater bed property in terms of effective bulk modulus and effective density of the material properties. The model was simulated in terms of layered material within a monostatic detection configuration. The numerical model demonstrates the feasibility of detecting an underground air void with a spatial resolution of about 0.5 <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mi>λ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula> and can differentiate a soil firmness of about 5%. The proposed technique can overcome limitations imposed by conventional techniques that use spacing-consuming sonar devices and suffer from low penetration depth and leakage of the transverse sound wave propagating in an underground fluid environment.