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Directional Acoustic Wave Manipulation by a Porpoise via Multiphase Forehead Structure

Yu Zhang, Zhongchang Song, Xianyan Wang, Wenwu Cao, and Whitlow W. L. Au
Phys. Rev. Applied 8, 064002 – Published 1 December 2017

Abstract

Porpoises are small-toothed whales, and they can produce directional acoustic waves to detect and track prey with high resolution and a wide field of view. Their sound-source sizes are rather small in comparison with the wavelength so that beam control should be difficult according to textbook sonar theories. Here, we demonstrate that the multiphase material structure in a porpoise’s forehead is the key to manipulating the directional acoustic field. Computed tomography (CT) derives the multiphase (bone-air-tissue) complex, tissue experiments obtain the density and sound-velocity multiphase gradient distributions, and acoustic fields and beam formation are numerically simulated. The results suggest the control of wave propagations and sound-beam formations is realized by cooperation of the whole forehead’s tissues and structures. The melon size significantly impacts the side lobes of the beam and slightly influences the main beams, while the orientation of the vestibular sac mainly adjusts the main beams. By compressing the forehead complex, the sound beam can be expanded for near view. The porpoise’s biosonar allows effective wave manipulations for its omnidirectional sound source, which can help the future development of miniaturized biomimetic projectors in underwater sonar, medical ultrasonography, and other ultrasonic imaging applications.

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  • Received 11 January 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.064002

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Interdisciplinary PhysicsPhysics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Yu Zhang1,2,*, Zhongchang Song1, Xianyan Wang3, Wenwu Cao4,†, and Whitlow W. L. Au5

  • 1Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Communication and Marine Information Technology of the Ministry of Education, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
  • 2State Key Laboratory of Acoustics, Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China
  • 4Department of Mathematics and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 5Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, 46-007 Lilipuna Road, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744, USA

  • *Corresponding author. yuzhang@xmu.edu.cn
  • Corresponding author. dzk@psu.edu

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Vol. 8, Iss. 6 — December 2017

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