Detecting Inception of Hydrodynamic Cavitation Noise of Ships using Quadratic Phase Coupling Index as an Indicator

Abstract

There is ever increasing interest in underwater noise control onboard ships as part of concerted efforts to reduce ship’s radiated noise. Reduction of radiated noise is considered important as it will affect the performance of hydro-acoustic systems such as sonars, echo sounders, towed systems, etc. Out of three major sources of noise onboard ships, viz., machinery, propeller, and hydrodynamic noise, propeller noise is considered a major source beyond certain speed at which propellers cavitate produces cavitation noise. The inception speed of propeller cavitation is generally accompanied by sudden increase in radiated noise level of 8-15 dB when measured using a hydrophone placed on the seabed. This paper attempts to establish the concept of quadratic phase coupling index as an indicator to detect inception of cavitation of ship propellers. This concept was tested on actual ship radiated noise data measured at sea for evaluating its effectiveness.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 65, No. 1, January 2015, pp.53-62, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.65.7885