Internship or Graduation: Gearbox Source Level Project

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About us

At Damen, much effort is put in designing silent and comfortable ships. Therefore sound level predictions are made to judge the feasibility of each design. This of course, asks for accurate prediction methods.

Aspects covered in these prediction methods are:

• The prediction of structure borne as well as airborne excitation levels of diesel engines, gearboxes, generator sets, propellers, etc.
• Predicting the dynamic response of the ship structure, such as the input mobility of the engine foundation and the transfer of vibrations through the ship structure.
• Prediction of attenuations due to acoustic countermeasures, such as resilient mountings, floating floors, visco-elastic damping, additional absorption, etc.
• Prediction of radiation of lining and absorption of the sound levels in the cabins.
• Prediction methods always needs validation by means of measurements. For this purpose, use is made of advanced measurement equipment.

Within the RD&I department, the research team Sound & Vibrations is dedicated to the development of these tools. One of the team members of this team will act as daily supervisor.

The role

The currently on-going energy transition leads towards more battery powered ships. For battery powered ships, the gearbox can become a dominant source of sound on board ships as well as underwater.

Gearbox source levels are typically defined as the acceleration levels at the feet of the gearbox, expressed in one-third octave bands (structure borne source levels). These levels are obtained from empirical formulations, such as for instance given by SNAME.

Traditionally, a gearbox driven by a diesel engine, which has a large influence on the source levels of the gearbox. Without diesel engine, the gearbox source level definitions in use are over-estimating the gearbox source levels. This results in over-estimation of the sound levels on board battery powered ships, where the gearbox is associated with an electric motor.

Therefore it becomes important to improve the accuracy of the gearbox source level description. The assignment consists of development of a prediction model for structure-borne source levels for gearboxes.

Key accountabilities

This assignment aims at obtaining more accurate description of the gearbox source level. Therefore a (analytic and/or numerical) dynamic mechanical model of the gearbox is to be made, in which the gear mesh dynamics are modelled, i.e. the deformations of the teeth under load and the transmission of these forces/deformations through the gearbox construction are to be modelled and validated against existing measurement data. This model should allow for quantifying the important aspects controlling the structure borne source levels of the gearbox.

You are responsible for planning, executing and reporting of this research and deliver a functioning model including a thorough description of the used elements in the model. You are expected to present your final results to the department and other interested colleagues.

Skills & experience

This assignment is intended for a University Master student, Naval Architecture / Maritime Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Applied Physics with:

• Affinity with (modelling of) mechanical dynamics of complex systems
• Analytical oriented mindset
• Good programming/scripting skills in Matlab/Python
• Mastery of the English language (spoken and written)

What we offer

As an intern at Damen, you will face several real-world aspects in the field of sound and vibrations. It’s not only theory or practice, but the combination of theory with practice that leads to the best results.

And furthermore:

• A pleasant, informal working atmosphere and professional guidance;
• A challenging, international environment where you have a lot of freedom and responsibilities;
• A very educational and fun internship;
• An internship fee and travel allowance.