Static magnetic signature of a ghost-ship propulsor system as a composite ferromagnetic medium

Abstract

In this paper, it is shown that the static magnetic signature of a propulsor belonging to a ghost ship, whose hull is made of fiberglass, can be calculated by regarding it as a composite ferromagnetic medium. The calculation of the magnetic signature in the static regime is carried out using finite-element method simulations and according to a simple analytical model based on the concepts of volume averaged magnetization arising from a source magnetic field, volume averaged permeability, surface magnetic charges, and the demagnetization tensor applied to a composite magnetic medium. Using targeted simulations, it is demonstrated that the magnetostatic field of demagnetizing nature forming inside the propulsor almost cancels the contribution of the volume averaged magnetization. From the interplay between the numerical simulations and the analytical model, the elements of the demagnetization tensor in the region filled by the propulsor are locally calculated, and their role in determining the localization effects of the magnetic signature is discussed. By replacing the original ferromagnetic materials with weakly ferromagnetic ones, it is shown that, in the underwater region outside the propulsor, the magnetic signature drop is 64%. This analysis suggests an experimental way to use a simple passive method to minimize the magnetic signature of a propulsor as an alternative to more complex and time-consuming methods, such as the deperming and degaussing methods, widely employed to reduce the magnetic signature of ships and underwater objects in military applications.