Underwater acoustic performance of SiC foam ceramic materials

Abstract

One of the major tasks of the underwater warfare is to detect underwater objects such as vehicles, vessels, weapons and equipment. The conduct of underwater warfare mostly depends upon the advancement of detection and identification sensors and materials. The wide variation in types and characteristics of materials may affect the underwater detection capabilities despite recently developed sonar systems. The materials with high porosity are known to provide lower acoustical signature than conventional metallic plates in common. The aim of this study is to examine the acoustical signature and the efficiency of open celled SiC foam ceramics as covering and/or casing material for naval mines. Sonar frequencies widely used in mine countermeasure operations for detection purposes, 80 kHz, 85 kHz, 90khZ, 95 kHz and 100 kHz were applied to the acoustic tests. The experimental results obtained from the study shows that the SiC foam ceramic plate leads a 19,2% reduction in reflection, 90,5% and 96% lower values are obtained in transmission and 78,4% and 68,6% lower values are obtained at 60° and 30° in scattering compared to the reference steel plate.Article HighlightsThis study investigates underwater acoustic performance of open celled SiC foam ceramics the range of 80–100 kHz in the acoustic test pool environment for the very first time.Highly tortuose and porous structure of open celled SiC foam ceramic leads a considerable decrease in scattering, reflection and transmission properties.The study reveals that SiC foams ceramics are potential candidates in reducing acoustical signature as covering and/or casing material for future naval mine applications.