Acoustic wave propagation in Two-dimensional unbounded layered media

Abstract

Since Pekeris established the theory of wave propagation in acoustic media in 1948, the theory has been crucial in understanding the phenomena of acoustic wave propagation for beginners in geophysics and oceanography. Pekeris theoretically solved the acoustic wave motion problem of unbounded two layers in axially symmetric cylindrical coordinate system. Although his work is mathematically impeccable, his solution is somewhat complicated because it includes a Bessel function, which makes it difficult to calculate numerically. A much simpler solution can be obtained by introducing a two-dimensional plane domain instead of a three-dimensional cylindrical environment. This attempt enables beginners to more intuitively comprehend the characteristics of wave motion in acoustic media and to visualize the wave propagation in acoustic media through modern computer programming. To verify the accuracy of the newly derived two-dimensional solution, the analytical and numerical results are compared, and a regression analysis is performed.