A Parametric Analysis and Sensitivity Study of the Acoustic Propagation for Renewable Energy

As countries explore renewable energy opportunities, offshore wind farms are being developed along coastlines. To construct these wind farms, piles are driven into the seafloor as foundational structures for the turbines. Pile driving involves risk of noise pollution that can affect marine fauna. To mitigate these risks, risk assessments and...

Measured and calculated noise reduction of rail dampers and absorption plates on a high speed slab track

Rail dampers and sound absorbing plates have been tested on a high speed railway slab track in a walled cutting at a noise sensitive location. Their noise reduction has been determined from pass-by measurements during service and predicted using BEM calculations. The cutting depth, noise barrier height and configuration vary along the length of...

An efficient numerical target strength prediction model: Validation against analysis solutions

A decade ago, TNO developed RASP (Rapid Acoustic Signature Prediction), a numerical model for the prediction of the target strength of immersed underwater objects. The model is based on Kirchhoff diffraction theory. It is currently being improved to model refraction, angle dependent reflection and transmission (possibly through anisotropic...

Acoustic scattering from partially buried cylinders: Measurement, validation and interpretation using physical acoustics and finite element models

When attempting to detect and classify objects in an ocean environment, it has been shown that the surrounding environment, specifically the target’s deployment within that environment, greatly affects the measured acoustic response. While sea trials go a long ways towards extending the development of better classification systems, they are...

An efficient model for prediction of underwater noise due to pile driving at large ranges

Modelling the sound levels in the water column due to pile driving operations nearby and out to large distances from the pile is crucial in assessing the likely impact on marine life. Standard numerical techniques for modelling the sound radiation from mechanical structures such as the finite element (FE) and boundary element method are not well...

Efficient calculation of broadband acoustic scattering from a partially, obliquely buried cylinder

An efficient model for the Target In Environment Response (TIER) of buried/half buried, mine-like objects and UXOs is essential for the development and training of automatic target detection and classification methods and for use in sonar performance prediction models. For instance, to investigate the influence of burial depth and orientation on...

Validation of finite element computations for the quantitative prediction of underwater noise from impact pile driving

The acoustic radiation from a pile being driven into the sediment by a sequence of hammer strikes is studied with a linear, axisymmetric, structural acoustic frequency domain finite element model. Each hammer strike results in an impulsive sound that is emitted from the pile and then propagated in the shallow water waveguide. Measurements from...

A Hybrid Finite Element/Helmholtz-Kirchhoff-Integral Model for Shooting Range Sound Prediction

National legislation enforces a limit on the Sound Levels of outdoor military shooting ranges observed in nearby residential areas. These restrictions directly influence the number of shots that may be fired at a specific shooting range, which may conflict with the required/ scheduled training capacity for that specific range. If desired, sound...