Taking Sub in School to the next level — Acoustic Testing

摘要

Re-Engineering Australia (REA), Defence Science & Technology (DST), Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) and industry partners developed the Subs in Schools (SiS) program to engage Australian students in STEM subjects. The program has been running in secondary schools for over five years and requires students to design, manufacture and test submarine hull model forms. The program is aligned with generating interest in the growing Australian shipbuilding industry and preparing young Australians for a career in engineering to contribute to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and innovative industries alike. This work aims to expand the current testing criteria through implementing an acoustic testing regime in the SiS competition. The competition seeks to simulate applicable and 'real life' tests, whilst exploring the theory of sound within the context of SiS, thus the inclusion of acoustic testing in the sea trials aspect of SiS would align with the reality of the operational requirements of submarines. The acoustic testing included underwater measurements with hydrophones and a stationary model submarine, tests conducted in an isolated, insulated air medium (acoustic testing box) and resonance analysis and mitigation of the submarine as a structure. For testing and analysis purposes, comparison of the underwater and air data was undertaken to analysis the effect of mass loading and damping of the propeller and structure as a whole (stationary tests). Outcomes of this research are expected to be, the recorded acoustic data on the model submarine for further benchmarking, extrapolation of underwater acoustic data to in-air data, an educational module on underwater noise and development of an acoustic testing system for the SiS competition.