Design of an acoustical bench

An acoustical bench was designed to facilitate ultrasonic target strength experiments requiring monostatic geometry for frequencies up to 100 kHz. The design of an acoustical bench is analogous to that of an optical bench. Its purpose is to facilitate accurate positioning in setting-up and running acoustical experiments. As an example of its use, the acoustical bench will enable the researcher to move precisely the source and receiver and obtain backscattered target strength as a function of azimuthal angle. The acoustical bench is designed to accommodate a variety of target sizes and shapes. The distance of the source and receiver from the target can be easily adjusted to provide both geometric near and far field conditions for most targets. To reduce errors due to diffraction effects, the source and receiver are mounted flush on a planar baffle.