Canadian researchers, lead by an Indo-Canadian engineer, are engaged on devising options to the issue of underwater noise air pollution given its hostile influence on marine mammals.

The fixed barrage of noise from ships and different vessels can brought on issues like listening to loss and stress for mammals like dolphins and whales. Propellers utilized by ships are among the many most important culprits.

Project lead Dr Rajeev Jaiman, Associate Professor within the Department of Mechanical Engineering on the University of British Columbia (UBC), stated, “Propeller noise can hit 170 decibels, the equivalent of a jet engine or a rocket lift-off.”

The options the UBC analysis group is pursuing embody design enhancements to manage propeller noise in addition to synthetic intelligence-based instruments.

Among the options being studied are “injecting a jet of fluid to help control propeller movement or introducing wavy and serrated edges to break up flow patterns that cause noise,” in response to a launch from UBC.

Jaiman and his colleagues are growing an AI-based framework to “rapidly analyze the fluid interactions and dynamics behind the noise,” with the eventual goal of offering “marine engineers with a new suite of tools to design and manufacture quieter propellers.”

They are additionally addressing the difficulty of structural elements and supplies utilized in ships.

“Advanced structures could be better noise barriers. They can be stronger and have other benefits as well,” Dr Jasmin Jelovica, a naval architect and Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering in UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science, stated.

The researchers have acquired funding from Transport Canada’s Quiet Vessel Initiative to create an AI-based noise prediction toolkit, which is able to “allow ships to adjust their noise based on the location of nearby marine mammals, and new AI software tools that can predict underwater vessel noise early in the design stage.”

Jaiman, who accomplished his B Tech at IIT-Bombay stated, “Efficient AI-based predictions together with novel flow control devices and structural modifications can help us to tackle ship noise pollution while reducing carbon emissions.”