Acoustical behaviour of a passenger cabin of a Ro-Pax vessel

Noise on board Ro-Pax vessels is an increasingly important evaluation factor for ferries and cruise vessels. The available normative framework, albeit well established and developed in the form of Comfort Classes, is based on dB(A) limits for the different spaces on board and is main-ly applied on a voluntary basis. In the present study, an acoustical analysis of a typical passen-ger cabin in a Ro-Pax vessel has been carried out in order to provide an effective and compre-hensive picture of the sound distribution inside the cabin volume. A comparison between the measured noise levels and the proposed limits has been carried out, in order to identify the pres-ence of critical areas inside the cabin in respect to acoustic comfort. A finite element model of the cabin has been finally developed, aimed at obtaining the eigenmodes of the cabin, in order to analyse the sound intensity pattern for every associated eigenfrequency.