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Structural Acoustics & Vehicle Silencing
The importance of submarine quieting and target strength reduction in pre- and post-WWII warfare are often overlooked. In fact, at the height of the Cold War, the “Silent War” conducted under the sea surface required tremendous investments in scientific R&D resulting in a worldwide and rapid maturation of structural acoustics research, development and engineering.
Today, the focus has turned to simplifying and reducing costs of marine combatant designs without sacrificing stealth. To this end, APS has and continues to conduct applied research and development in structural acoustics for the Office of Naval Research, NAVSEA, General Dynamics Electric Boat, and other prime contractors . Our current focus is on computationally efficient numerical tools that can be used to evaluate next generation vehicles, propulsion systems, and signature reduction systems. Our research has also included development of models to predict and measure wave propagation phenomena in structures and example model results are shown below for a surface ship model. Other work has included the development of shock and acoustic isolation mounts, acoustically tailored composites, damping treatments, and ship noise models.
Additionally, APS offers expertise in vehicle silencing and the modeling, simulation and experimentation of acoustic treatment performance, elastic scattering, target strength reduction and physics-based target echo classification. Our analysis tools include: custom developed transmission line and impedance matrix formulations; layered elastic media models including fiber composites; finite element analysis; statistical energy analysis, modal analysis, motor acoustic forcing function estimation, and noise audit modeling. Our modeling tools have recently been employed to evaluate the vibration and radiation produced by electric propulsion system concepts.
Structural acoustics expertise at APS is not limited to marine vehicle quieting, however. For example, APS also has a wealth of experience in ultrasonics, particularly for non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring.
Further examples of our interests and experience in structural acoustics include:
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Schematic illustration of a compound mount for vector sensors operated from unmanned underwater vehicles.
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