Cavitation tunnel in Naval Architecture: from cavitation prediction to radiated noise

Cavitation tunnels represent one of the most important typologies of model test ing facilities used in Naval Architecture These facilities are employed to study the hydrodynamics of marine propellers, with special attention on cavitation and its side effects. These effects include: loss of propeller thrust and efficiency, erosion, inboard noise and vibration, underwater ra diated noise. The latter aspect is one of the hot topics in the field of ship h ydrodynamics because of the concerns related to its impact on marine life. This paper presents the general setup and test procedures used to predict the propeller radiated noise based on model tests. In addition, some of the main experimental issues relate d to these activities are described.