In 1993, the construction plan of the National Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Science and Technology was approved by Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. In 1997, the laboratorypassedtheacceptance test and started official operation. In 2009 and 2014, it’s ranked outstanding in the two consecutive assessments of national key laboratories.
In recent years,the National Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Science and Technology received a total construction fee of 200 million yuan for condition maintenance, fromunderwater acoustic technology specific funding, key laboratory development and improvement funding,acoustic stealth specific funding and so on. It built the modern underwater acoustic experimental complex building, and updated all the fundamental experimental facilities and most of the experimental equipment. The laboratory’s conditions are now domestic leading, and among the top level in the world.
The laboratory now has 74 permanent staff, including 2 academicians, 25 professors, 97% of the staff have doctoral degree. Over the past five years, it has undertaken more than 400 projects from the national, provincial and municipal organizations, the total cost of the contracts is over 470 million yuan. The laboratory has published more than 600 academic papers, 85 of which are indexed by SCI and 539 are indexed by EI. The laboratory has applied for 272 patents, 135 of which are granted.
The National Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Science and Technology has always been exploring the new theories and methods in underwater acoustic technology, based on the major requirements for the construction and development of navy, and the critical fundamental problems and technical bottlenecks that restrictweapon development and application. It gradually developed into four research areas: underwater acoustic physics, underwater acoustic target detection and localization, underwater acoustic transducer technology and underwater acoustic communication technology. It has made significant breakthroughs in underwater target noise control technology, remote target detection technology, vector array underwater early warning technology, reverberation based radiation noise measurement technology, underwater Beidou acoustic positioning technology, bionic camouflage underwater acoustic communication technology, polar acoustic technology and other original innovations. The laboratory has won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award and the second prize of National Science and Technology Invention Award.
The underwater acoustic experimental complex building in the National Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Science and Technology is a comprehensive test site of underwater acoustics in China, which consists of a full frequency reverberation pool, a high frequency channel simulation pool (including high frequency acoustic anechoic pool), as well as Asia's unique low noise gravity water hole. The building has high pressure cans, reverberation chamber, sound proof chamber and other measurement chambers for aeroacoustics. It’s also equipped with auxiliary rooms and facilities for experiments: a truck-mounted crane with maximum load of 10 ton, an overhead crane on top of the pools, and corresponding experimental instruments. The building can provide advanced experimental conditions for those who work in underwater acoustics from home and abroad, and hence promote the exchange and cooperation in underwater acoustic industry.
