APPLICATION OF A LARGE-SCALE SEA MODEL TO A SHIP NOISE PROBLEM

In this paper, a Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) of a ship structure and its spaces is presented in the context of sonar ping noise. The SEA results are compared to experimental results for several different scenarios, and the comparison shows that SEA is capable of producing good predictions of compartment noise as well as important insights regarding noise control. Preliminary testing and analyses conducted at Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Detachment New London, CT on a new, high power active sonar system indicated that sonar ping noise could pose a significant habitability problem. In order to address this, NUWDCNL sought a means to assess the impact of the potential ping noise problem the new system could create on a ship and to determine approaches to minimizing that impact.