Phase II year
2019
(last award dollars: 1710249318)
Phase II Amount
$1,999,986
The technical objective is to enhance sailors restful sleep so they are at peak performance by using cost effective and easy to use sound damping materials to reduce excessive noise in submarines berthing areas to a continuous acoustic level below 30 dBA. The sailors must still be able to hear sounds associated with any urgent situation. The solution must pass the Navys fire, smoke, and toxicity (FST), shock grade B, and safety requirements. In Round I, Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. (TRI Austin) will design and fabricate an initial functioning prototype that will reduce airborne sound transmission by replacing the berthing curtain with sound damping materials. TRI Austin will fabricate the materials for acoustic damping property testing for Transmission Loss, Sound Absorption, and Noise Reduction per ASTMs E90, C423, and E596. FST properties will be tested to MIL-STD-2031. In Round II, the prototype will be tested to determine the acoustic reduction performance that simulates the operational conditions of a submarine berthing space. TRI Austin will perform medium weight shock testing per MIL-DTL-901E. In Round III, TRI Austin will set up and test acoustic reduction performance in two different operational environments selected by the government.