Abstract: When sound waves pass through vortex field, the propagation characteristics of sound waves are changed, and hereby, the existence and characteristic parameters of vortex field can be judged. In this paper, the ray differential equations of two-dimensional steady vortex field are derived, and the trajectory of sound wave passing through vortex field is simulated. Then, the ultrasonic sensor experiment in pool is conducted and the parameters of vortex field are obtained by modern CFD simulation method. Finally, the numerical simulation results of acoustic signal delay in vortex field are compared with the experimental measurement results, and it is shown that the numerical simulation error is less than 10% for the vortex field with a core radius of 30 mm and a maximum tangential velocity of 1.2 m·s^-1, which verifies the validity of numerical simulation of sound propagation in steady underwater vortex field based on ray acoustics.