The Journal of the Acoustical Society of KoreaISSN:1225-4428(Print) 2287-3775(Online)한국음향학회

When cavitation noise occurs in ship propellers, the level of underwater radiated noise abruptly increases, which can be a critical threat factor as it increases the probability of detection, particularly in the case of naval vessels. Therefore, accurately and promptly assessing cavitation signals is crucial for improving the survivability of submarines. Traditionally, techniques for determining cavitation occurrence have mainly relied on assessing acoustic/vibration levels measured by sensors above a certain threshold, or using the Detection of Envelop Modulation On Noise (DEMON) method. However, technologies related to this rely on a physical understanding of cavitation phenomena and subjective criteria based on user experience, involving multiple procedures, thus necessitating the development of techniques for early automatic recognition of cavitation signals. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that automatically detects cavitation occurrence based on simple statistical features reflecting cavitation characteristics extracted from acoustic signals measured by sensors attached to the hull. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated depending on the number of sensors and model test conditions. It was confirmed that by sufficiently training the characteristics of cavitation reflected in signals measured by a single sensor, the occurrence of cavitation signals can be determined.