Acoustic radiation performance of an egg-shaped multilayer shell of revolution under deep-sea environment

Abstract

As one of the bionic designs, the egg-shaped pressure shell has potential use for future deep-sea underwater vehicles. This paper numerically investigates the acoustic radiation performance of an egg-shaped multilayer shell of revolution, by comparing with the spherical one. Firstly, the numerical model of a three-layer spherical shell is constructed for simplified calculation by using ABAQUS finite element software; and the three-dimensional sono-elastic calculation platform (THAFTS-Acoustic) is used to calculate the acoustic radiation response. On this basis, effects of the mesh size and the closed virtual impedance surface (CVIS) on the calculation accuracy of acoustic radiation response are studied, so that the accuracy of present numerical method is verified by comparing with the exact solution. Secondly, the numerical model of a three-layer egg-shaped shell of revolution is developed, of which the total mass is the same with the spherical one. The acoustic radiation responses of the egg-shaped shell excited by both dynamic pressure and force loadings are calculated and evaluated in detail. The advantages and drawbacks of the multilayer egg-shaped shell in acoustic radiation performance are discussed. Finally, the static pressure resistance of the egg-shaped shell is also studied.