An Optimization Strategy of Composite Structure for Underwater Sound-Absorbing via Combining Response Surface Method and Quantum Genetic Algorithm

Underwater sound-absorbing structure is vital to the stealth performance of underwater vehicles, specifically to avoid the detection by active sonar. A new composite acoustic structure is proposed in this work, and the impact of structural parameters on sound-absorbing performance are studied by the means of numerical simulation; results show two absorption peaks of 0.75 and 0.95 at 3 kHz and 7 kHz due to the mechanisms of viscous loss and resonance. Subsequently, the optimization strategy of combining response surface method with quantum genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the structure, and results exhibit more superior absorption property with an increase of 6.3% compared with that for original structure. It also shows better efficiency and accuracy in comparison with the optimization strategies in COMSOL software. The optimized composite structure is manufactured and its absorption coefficients are measured and results show an error of 8.1% between experiment and numerical simulation.

Automated summary

A new composite acoustic structure is proposed and its impact on sound-absorbing performance is studied through numerical simulation. The optimized structure shows a 6.3% increase in absorption property compared to the original structure, and exhibits better efficiency and accuracy.