Active control of sound radiated by a submarine in bending vibration

This paper theoretically investigates the use of inertial actuators to reduce the sound radiated by a submarine hull in bending vibration under harmonic excitation from the propeller. The radial forces from the propeller are tonal at the blade passing frequency and are transmitted to the hull through the stern end cone. The hull is modelled as a fluid loaded cylindrical shell with ring stiffeners and two equally spaced bulkheads. The cylinder is closed by end-plates and conical end caps. The actuators are arranged in circumferential arrays and attached to the prow end cone. Both Active Vibration Control and Active Structural Acoustic Control are analysed. The inertial actuators can provide control forces with a magnitude large enough to reduce the sound radiated by the vibrations of the hull in some frequency ranges.