Acoustic Control of a Maneuverable Marine Hydrokinetic Cycloturbine

Abstract Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) cycloturbines exploit tidal currents to generate sustainable electric power. Because of the harsh marine environment, MHK cycloturbines require frequent maintenance and repair, which for current systems necessitates the use of a ship, making the process difficult and costly. A novel MHK cycloturbine system has been designed that uses pitching foils for maneuver, potentially circumventing the costs and difficulties associated with deployment and repairs. The vehicle fatigue is decreased and the vehicle’s acoustic signature underwater is reduced by design of a novel acoustic controller. This controller specifically reduces the tonal noise at blade rate frequency. Each turbine foil radiates noise equivalent to an acoustic dipole at multiples of blade rate frequency, and so the vehicle is modelled as an acoustic multipole. At blade rate frequency, the turbine size compared to its acoustic wavelength allows for the entire vehicle to be treated as a compact source. The effect of turbine clocking on directivity and sound power is shown. The effects of the designed controller to reduce tonal noise at blade rate frequency and multiples are verified experimentally through testing in ARL’s Reverberant Tank facility. Fixing a Subscale Demonstrator (SSD) to a reaction frame provides the ability to measure the integrated loads using load cells. The radiated sound pressure is computed for the load cell data obtained. Acoustic control is implemented using the turbine RPM: turbines are clocked by slowing one turbine relative to another for a short period of time.