Noise and Vibration Control Program for Warship: The New Spanish Frigate F110

Abstract

Among the great challenges that every naval designer of modern warships must face, it stands out, due to its strategic importance with regard to the Control, from the early phases of the project, of the “acoustic signature” of the new design of the ship. Specifically, its “minimization” to achieve the objective of making the ship as “stealthy” (stealth) as possible. In parallel, the experience of the most advanced National Navies has shown the strategic importance of controlling the levels of vibrations and noise that are generated on board the ships, not only from the point of view of structural integrity of the platform, but from the point of view of guaranteeing the Protection of the Health and the Comfort of the Endowments, and in the European context, required by Directives and Local Regulations of Obligatory Compliance. Indeed, the experiences of one of the most advanced navies in the world have revealed the high costs derived from the consequences of “hearing losses” on part of the specialized personnel of their staff, as well as the “high risk” that this implies for the missions of surveillance and combat the fact that the personnel does not have a conditions of comfort guaranteeing the maximum performance and attention required. Fully aware of the aforementioned aspects, the Spanish Navy, in close collaboration with NAVANTIA, and advised by experts in the matter, has required for the new design of its Frigate F-110, the establishment of a “Noise Control Plan, Vibrations and Acoustic Signature”, that, applied from the early phases of the design, allows us to give a satisfactory answer to these challenges. In the present work, and with support of previous experiences, the general lines of the aforementioned “Noise and Vibration Control Program and Acoustic Signature” are described, which is based on, among others, the Comfort Class Notations of the main Classification Societies as well as the most recent experiences of experts and specialized consultants.