Faster Calculation of the Low-Frequency Radiated Sound Power of Underwater Slender Cylindrical Shells

Abstract

Based on the fact that beam-type modes play the main role in determining the sound radiation from an underwater thin slender (length-to-radius ratio L/a>20) elastic cylindrical shell, an equivalent-beam method is proposed for calculating the low-frequency radiated sound power of underwater thin slender unstiffened and stiffened cylindrical shells. The natural bending frequencies of the cylindrical shell are calculated by analytical and numerical methods and used to solve equivalent Young’s modulus of the equivalent beam. This approach simplifies the vibration problem of the three-dimensional cylindrical shell into that of a two-dimensional beam, which can be used to simplify the calculation process of radiated sound power. Added mass is used to approximate the fluid-structure coupling, further simplifying the calculation process. Calculation examples of underwater simply supported unstiffened and stiffened cylindrical shells verify the proposed method by comparison with analytical and numerical results. Finally, the effects of the size and spacing of the stiffeners on the sound radiation characteristics of underwater free-free stiffened cylindrical shells are discussed. The proposed method can be extended to the rapid calculation of the sound radiation characteristics of underwater slender complex cylindrical shells in the low-frequency range.