Kongsberg EA440 - Self Noise

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392616/B
Selfnoise
Anyvesselequippedwithahydroacousticsystem(forexampleechosounderorsonar)
willproducemoreorlessselfnoise.
Therearemanysourcesofsuchselfnoise.Wewillheregointosomedetailsinorderto
analysethedifferentsourcesofselfnoiseonavesselandhowtheymayinuenceupon
thenoiselevelofthehydroacousticinstruments.
Machinerynoise
Themaincontributortomachinerynoiseisusuallythemainengineonboardthevessel.
Thecontributionfromauxiliarymachinerymay,however,beconsiderable,especiallyif
itisinpoorshape.Themachinerynoisecanbetransmittedtothetransduceras:
•Structure-bornenoisethroughtheshipstructureandthetransducermountings
•Water-bornenoisethroughthehullintothewatertothetransducer
Electricalnoise
Modernvesselsarenormallyequippedwithalotofelectricinstrumentssuchas
hydroacousticsystems,radars,navigationsystems,andcommunicationequipment.Any
electricinstrumentsmayinsomecauseelectricalinterferenceandnoise.International
regulationsandcerticationsareusedtocontrolandreducethis,buteventheseare
limitediftheelectricalsystemsarepoorlyinstalledand/ormaintained.
Propellernoise
Propellernoiseisoftenthemainsourceofnoiseathighervesselspeeds.V ariablepitch
propellersorfastmovingpropellersusuallymakemorenoisethanxedpropellersor
slowmovingpropellers.
Propellernoiseisusuallywater-borne.Insomecases,however,shaftvibrationsor
vibrationsinthehullnearthepropellermaybestructure-bornetothetransducer.Ifa
propellerbladeisdamaged,thismayincreasethenoiseconsiderably.
Propellercavitationisaseveresourceofnoise."Singing"propellersmightbeasourceof
noise,whichinterferesatdiscretefrequencies.Insomecasesstaticdischargefromthe
rotatingpropellershaftmaybequitedisturbing.
Cavitation
Cavitationistheformationofsmallairbubbles
closetothetransducerface.Thebubblesappear
becausethelocalpressurebecomesnegative
duringpartsoftheacousticpressurecycles.
Thecavitationthresholdincreaseswiththe
hydrostaticpressure.Thenoiseismadewhen
thebubblesimplode.
Cavitationnoisemayappearnearextruding
objectsathigherspeeds,butmoreoftenitis
EA440Installationmanual