Computational fluid dynamics and hydroacoustics analyses of underwater radiated noise of an ice breaker ship

Abstract

Flow and acoustics analyses have been carried out for an ice breaker ship. The numerical acoustic solution relies on the computational fluid dynamics simulations with regard to the sound generation. The numerical method for acoustics is based on a wave equation for the density perturbations which is solved using an acoustic finite element method. The simulations are compared to full-scale underwater noise measurements, as well as model-scale measurements conducted in a cavitation tunnel. The hydrodynamic performance of the thruster unit was well captured in the numerical simulations. The flow around the unit was visualized, and different hydrodynamic noise sources caused by the propulsion system were investigated. The hydrodynamic noise of the ship was decently captured in the simulations.