In present work, an acoustic characterisation of the University of Genoa cavitation tunnel is presented, with the aim to obtain suitable transfer functions in order to take into account (at least partially) the effects of the confined environment, particularly important for small-scale facility like the one considered. The acoustic characterisation is performed considering two hydrophones in significantly different positions (inside the tunnel and in an external tank), typical, for different reasons, of noise measurements in cavitation tunnel; the procedure is based on the logarithmic sine sweep signal. The obtained transfer functions have been applied to a series of measurements of model propellers in correspondence to considerably different functioning conditions, in terms of cavitation number and propeller loading, showing the applicability of the procedure and the improvement of the measurement quality, in view of predictions in full scale.
AndréMGaggeroTRizzutoE. Underwater noise emissions: another challenge for ship design. In: Advances in marine structure: proceedings of 3rd international conference on marine structures, CRC PR I Lic: Hamburg, 28–31 March 2011, pp. 581–591.
2.
SasajimaHTanakaI. On the estimation of wakes of ships. In: Proceedings of the 11th international towing tank conference (ITTC), Tokyo, Japan, 11–20 October 1966. Japan: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
3.
LarssonLSternFVisonneauM. A workshop on numerical ship hydrodynamics. Gothenburg: Department of Shipping and Marine Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, 2010.
4.
Specialist Committee on Scaling of Wake Field. Final report and recommendations to the 26th ITTC. In: Proceedings of the 26th international towing tank conference (ITTC), vol. II, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 28 August–3 September 2011. Brazil: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
5.
BosschersJvan WijngaardenE. Scale effects on hull pressure fluctuations due to cavitating propellers. In: Proceedings of the 10th international conference on hydrodynamics, Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute: St. Petersburg, 1–4 October 2012.
6.
GaggeroSVillaDVivianiM. Ship wake scaling and effect on propeller performances. In: Proceedings of the XV congress of the international maritime association of the Mediterranean (IMAM 2013): developments in maritime transportation and exploitation of sea resources, CRC Press/Balkema: A Coruna, 14–17 October 2013, pp.13–21.
7.
RizzutoETaniGVivianiM. Experimental analysis of the influence of ship wake scaling on marine propeller radiated noise and pressure pulses. In: Proceedings of the 21st international congress on sound and vibration (ICSV 2014), Acoustical Society of China (ASC), International Institute of Acoustics and Vibrations: Beijing, China, 13–17 July 2014.
8.
McCormickBWJr. On cavitation produced by a vortex trailing from a lifting surfaces. J Basic Eng1962; 84: 369–378.
9.
BlakeWKSevikMM. Recent developments in cavitation noise research. In: Proceedings of the ASME international symposium on cavitation noise, ASME: Phoenix, AZ, 14–19 November 1982, pp.1–10.
10.
BlakeWKWolpertMJGeibFE. Cavitation noise and inception as influenced by boundary-layer development on a hydrofoil. J Fluid Mech1977; 80(4): 617–640.
11.
NoordzjiLVan der KoojiJ. Hydro-acoustics of cavitating screw propeller; far-field approximations. J Ship Res1981; 25: 90–94.
12.
ITTC Cavitation Committee. Final report and recommendations to the 15th ITTC. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC), The Hague, 3–10 September, 1978. Netherlands: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
13.
ITTC Cavitation Committee. Final report and recommendations to the 18th ITTC. In: Proceedings of 18th International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC), Kobe, Japan, 18–24 October 1987. Japan: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
14.
ParkCSeolHKimK. A study on propeller noise source localization in a cavitation tunnel. Ocean Eng2009; 36: 754–762.
15.
FelliMGrizziSFalchiM. Hydroacoustic and hydrodynamic analysis of a propeller-rudder configuration by pressure signal wavelet decomposition and optical techniques. In: Proceedings of the third international symposium on marine propulsors (SMP 2013), Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania: Launceston, TAS, Australia, 5–8 May 2013, pp.373–380.
16.
FarinaA. Simultaneous measurement of impulse response and distortion with a swept-sine technique. In: Proceedings of the 108th AES convention, Audio Engineering Society (AES): Paris, 19–22 February 2000.
17.
FarinaA. Advancements in impulse response measurements by sine sweeps. In: Proceedings of the 122nd AES convention, Audio Engineering Society (AES): Vienna, 5–8 May 2007.
18.
PolettiM. Linearly swept frequency measurements, time-delay spectrometry, and the Wigner distribution. J Asian Earth Sci1988; 36: 457–468.
19.
KirkebyONelsonPAHamadaH. The ‘Stereo Dipole’– a virtual source imaging system using two closely spaced loudspeakers. J Asian Earth Sci1998; 46: 387–395.
20.
BertettaDBrizzolaraSGaggeroS. CPP propeller cavitation and noise optimization at different pitches with panel code and validation by cavitation tunnel measurements. Ocean Eng2012; 53: 177–195.
21.
ITTC Cavitation Committee. Final report and recommendations to the 25th ITTC. In: Proceedings of 25th International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC), Fukuoka, Japan, 14–20 September 2008. Japan: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
22.
BlakeWK. Aero-hydroacoustic for ships. Bethesda, MD: David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center, 1984.
23.
BarkG. Prediction of propeller cavitation noise from model tests and its comparison with full scale data. SSPA Maritime Consulting: SSPA report no. 103, 1986.
