SBIR-STTR Award

The Phase I research will demonstrate the feasibility of our concept for measuring vibration, waterborne, flow and flow induced noise with an affordable sensor which can be attached to a ship. The Phase I research will identify the types of sensors required to perform these noise measurements. The sensor configuration will be developed and will include key features such as how they will be connected, how they will be recorded, what sample rate will be used as well as how they will be clocked. Hydrodynamic modeling will also be performed, and this will support the design of the fairing which will be built during the Phase II effort. The team will also begin the development of the algorithms for the noise analysis software. In summary, the Phase I research will lay the foundation for developing a Phase II prototype sensor and hull mount faring which will be demonstrated during the Phase II effort.

Benefit:
The anticipated results of this STTR program is the development of an affordable, self-powered sensor which can be attached to the exterior of a ship to perform measurements of vibration, waterborne, flow and flow induced noise at various speed regimes. This sensor could be used by the Navy, Coast Guard, ship designers, ship builders as well as the Oil and Gas Industry.

Keywords:
flow, flow, Vibration, Calibrated Omni, Flow Induced, pressure, low power, waterborne, Accelerometer

During the Phase II effort we will build an Experimental Noise Measurement System designed to measure vibration, waterborne, flow and flow induced noise. The sensor suite will be comprised of six accelerometers, five pressure sensors and nine omni directional hydrophones. The heart of the system is a low power electronics module which will perform signal conditioning and digitization using an FPGA controller. Data storage will be performed using microSDXC storage cards holding at a minimum of 2.4 TB of data. The electronics module and batteries will be in a waterproof housing and the entire housing will be enclosed in a fairing designed to operate across broad speed regimes. The unit will be attached to the hull by a diver, and a wet mateable Power over Ethernet (PoE) will support battery charging and data downloads without removing the unit from the hull. ARL/PSU will utilize data collected from the ENMS mounted at two locations along the hull to estimate flow noise levels at any location along the hull. Turbulent boundary layer (TBL) wall pressure data at the two measurement locations will be compared against results from an empirical TBL wall pressure model to assess the validity of the model.

Benefit:
The anticipated results of this STTR program is the development of an affordable, self-powered sensor suite which can be attached to the exterior of a ship to perform measurements of vibration, waterborne, flow and flow induced noise at various speed regimes. This sensor could be used by the Navy, Coast Guard, ship designers, ship builders as well as the Oil and Gas Industry.

Keywords:
Vibration, pressure, Calibrated Omni, low power, Accelerometer, Flow Induced, waterborne, flow