A monthly house bulletin of Defence Research & Development Organisation
ISSN : 0971-4413
■ Vol. 31 No. 7
BULLETIN OF DEFENCE RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION
■ July 2011
Vol. 22 No. 1 February 2014
NAVAL TEST FACILITIES
D
RDO has made pathbreaking accomplishments in the field of naval systems.
The naval sphere of activities covers sensors, weapons and materials for
naval applications. Development of naval systems is a challenging task as their
performance is influenced by highly unpredictable ocean environment. Every
system has a life cycle which starts with the promulgation of the requirement,
design, laboratory and field testing and finally user trials. Testing is one stage
of developmental cycle and is a continuous process as corrective, adaptive, and
other maintenance activities continue even when the system is operational.
This issue of Technology Focus highlights the testing facilities established by
DRDO at two of its naval cluster laboratories, Naval Physical and Oceanographic
Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi, and Naval Science and Technological Laboratory
(NSTL), Visakhapatnam, for its naval research and development programmes.
Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory
Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory
achievements and contributions in the area of Sonar
is the centre of excellence for underwater sensors,
research and development for Indian Navy. NPOL has
materials and surveillance systems. It caters for design
established facilities for testing and evaluation of the
and development and facilitates production and
research and development being done by it. It also
integration of sonar systems for all kinds of naval
owns a research vessel called INS Sagardhwani for the
platforms such as ships, submarines and helicopters.
oceanographic research.
Technologies developed by NPOL are of cuttingedge in nature and many a systems developed
by it have been inducted into the Services.
The
Laboratory
has
made
outstanding
Facilities available with the Laboratory for trial
and evaluation of the systems and technologies being
developed by it are described herewith.
Technical Facilities
onboard. All these data is stored and archived on the
Darpan Cluster Computing Facility
cater to the needs of system designers of future sonars
Darpan
cluster
computing
facility
high performance storage system. The system will
provides
system-level simulation of sonar systems and its
environment. The facility comprises a Linux cluster
consisting of 40 rack-mounted computer nodes each
with field data acquired through sea trials.
Acoustic Tank Facility
with dual processors that gives about 170 GFlops of
Acoustic tank facility comprises a water tank of
performance, a software development laboratory with
50 m length, 20 m width and 18 m depth, a positioning
desktop systems connected through Ethernet network,
system and a set of sophisticated instrumentation. The
and a high performance storage system consisting of
facility is equipped with a remotely controlled EOT
2 TB of network attached storage and 7 TB of content
crane of 10 ton capacity. The tank has two moving
address storage system. The cluster is installed with
platforms with a positional accuracy of 1 cm in the X,
cluster management and monitoring tools, scheduler
Y and Z directions. One of the moving platforms has
and distributed resource manager. The application
a turntable that can take 5 ton load and the other
development software includes parallel computing
platform has two turntables that can take 1 ton load.
software libraries and compilers based on message
The transducers can be positioned to an accuracy of 0.5
passing interface MPICH, PGI and parallel and
degree.
distributed MATLAB environment.
Darpan facility caters to the computational and
2
incorporating state-of-the-art processing techniques
Primary calibration measurement using reciprocity
principle and secondary calibration measurement using
storage requirements in the areas of system-level
comparison
design, modelling and simulation of sonar, vessels and
adopted. Receiver sensitivity, transmitting voltage/
ocean. Large sonar array data is collected during various
current response, source level/power measurements,
project trials for testing the various sonar systems
directivity measurements and full system integration
Darpan Cluster Computing Facility
Acoustic Tank Facility
February 2014
calibration technique are
commonly
checks are done using the techniques and programs
developed in the lab. Transducers used in sonar system,
fish finders, ocean bottom profiling, underwater
telephony, etc., can be calibrated. An additional test
facility with water tank of dimension 4.5 m x 3.5 m x
3.5 m depth is used for low power and high frequency
measurement where it requires lesser set-up time.
Materials and Transducers Simulated
Test Facility
Materials and Transducers Simulated (MATS)
facility is one of its kind in the country and one of
the very few in the world. MATS is designed for
Materials and Transducers Simulated Test Centre
undertaking any static or dynamic measurement,
and retrieval, trend display over long periods, alarm
evaluation, and calibration of any material or sensor
or transducer for underwater use. It can be gainfully
used for a variety of areas of oceanography, ocean
acoustics, marine geophysics, underwater acoustic
transducers or any other area dealing with undersea
equipment like underwater cameras. MATS test centre
provides three pressure chambers of different sizes
and shapes to cater for underwater measurements
on different sensors or materials or equipment under
different conditions of temperature and pressure. It is
also designed for measurement at different operating
frequencies. Two Low Frequency Tubes (LFT) can be
used as impedance tubes for acoustic measurements.
The liquid temperature can be varied from room
enunciation and fault display.
Vibration Test Facility
The vibration test facility is provided with shakers
and data acquisition system for performing vibration
tests like endurance test, environmental screening,
modal testing, and system characterization of sonar
components like sensors, vibration isolators, cables,
cabinets, etc. The facility can handle test specimen of
a few grams to 132 kg and in a frequency span up to
10 kHz for lighter components and 4 kHz for heavier
components.
Pressure Test Facility
temperature to any value down to -20 °
C. Hydraulic
The facility is equipped with two major pressure
cylinders are used to pressurise the anechoic chamber
test chambers with maximum operating pressure of
and LFTs up to 70 kg/cm2. Distributed Control System
100 bar and 60 bar, respectively. It is used to check
(DCS), the virtual brain behind the MATS, is used for
the pressure withstanding capability of submarine
controlling various sub-systems of the facility. The DCS
sonar components like staves, arrays, housings, cables,
performs functions like automatic process control of
junction boxes and other sensors like depth sensors.
the facilities, data acquisition, display, data storage
Apart from these, there are small horizontal pressure
February 2014
3
vessels for checking small underwater connectors for
towed array application.
Thermal Test Facility
The test facility is equipped with state-of-the-art
air handling equipment, measuring instruments and
computerised data acquisition system. The facility is
used for multiple purposes like thermal balancing of
electronic packages, experimental investigation of
thermal profile of cabinets, consoles, and ATR boxes. It is
also used for thermal measurement of final products for
verification under simulated platform condition prior to
onboard installation. The facility is capable of providing
regulated air flow up to 600 cm3 per hour with inlet
temperature range of 10 to 30 oC and optional up to
50 oC and specified relative humidity. The test facility
comprises latest instruments for measurement of air flow
rate, air temperature, air velocity and pressure drop.
Virtual Prototyping Centre
Pressure Test Facility
Clean Room
This facility is set-up for creating the virtual
prototypes of sonar systems being developed by NPOL
NPOL has established a state-of-the-art clean room
during the design stage itself. The custom designed
facility of Class 1000 for manufacturing Micro Electro-
centre comprises state-of-the-art hardware and high-
Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and nano devices, micro
end software capable of generating 3D virtual models
circuits, assembly and testing of precision electronic
of the sonar systems as well as the installation platform.
assembly, etc. The clean room provides conditions as
Animations and e-documentation can be carried out in
per HVAC systems.
this centre.
Towed Array Assembly and Testing Centre
The assembly of towed array is a highly complex
process and involves environmental stress screening
of electronic components, testing of acoustic/
engineering sensors, wiring of array, tube insertion,
connectorisation, oil filling and final integration of
various modules for trials. The towed array assembly
and testing centre houses all facilities for these
Clean Room
4
February 2014
activities.
sonar systems. Centre also facilitates generation of
virtual models of Integrated Sonar Suit (ISS) comprising
different sonar systems, power supply and power
amplifier cabinets, signal processing and display
cabinets, cabling, system installation layout, assembly
and shipping in animations, etc. The visual product
models enable scientists to thoroughly understand the
system integration aspects and are very useful tools for
user training.
Underwater Acoustics Research Facility
Towed Array Assembly Hall
Computer Aided Design Centre
The CAD centre is equipped with state-of-theart high-end CAD workstations and other peripheral
systems to handle the auto CAD, SolidWorks, CATIA V5,
and DELMIA DPM assembly software to generate virtual
CAD models, assembly animations and 2D engineering
drawings.
Underwater Acoustics Research Facility (UARF)
is used for calibrating and full-scale testing of
underwater acoustic transducers, arrays and other subsea equipment like fish finding sonars, echo sounders,
velocity meters, underwater communication systems,
decoys, etc.
UARF is spread over 60 sq km and has calm and
tranquil water without any waves or underwater
CAD Centre has virtual prototyping facility to
currents. It is in an ideal location for underwater acoustic
visualise external as well as internal details of the
experiments. Its depth varies between 25 m to 125 m.
product, optimise the design and to check assembly
UARF has three water crafts­­⎯Kolumban, Kuravan and
interference issues in the design and installation of
Jalaprayog­⎯to conduct experiments.
CAD Centre
Underwater Acoustic Research Facility
February 2014
5
Naval Science and Technological Laboratory
Naval Science and Technological Laboratory is
involved in the development of light and heavyweight torpedoes, autonomous underwater vehicles,
sea mines, decoys, fire control systems and stealth
technologies. The Laboratory has developed many
underwater weapons, e.g., intelligent influence mines,
moored mines, decoy launching system and advanced
light torpedo, etc.
NSTL's core competence lies in design and
development of underwater weapon systems, warship
technology, stealth technology and hydrodynamics
research and design support for naval platforms. The
facilities available with the Laboratory are described
herewith.
Hydrodynamic Test Facilities
High Speed Towing Tank
High Speed Towing Tank (HSTT) is the first of its
kind hydrodynamic test facility set-up for carrying
out hydrodynamic performance evaluation of ships,
submerged bodies and their propulsors through model
experiments under controlled conditions. The tank is
High Speed Towing Tank
scaled models of ships and submerged bodies in the
facility.
Cavitation Tunnel
The cavitation tunnel is of vertical plane, closed recirculating, variable speed, variable pressure type with
automatic control, data acquisition and analysis system
for operation, control and conduct of tests. The tunnel
also has a standalone acoustic measurement system for
acoustic data acquisition, analysis and extrapolation.
The tunnel also has long acoustic trough, aeration
and de-aeration system, fine filtering system, stainless
500 m in length, 8 m in breadth and 8 m in depth. It has
a Vertical Planar Motion Mechanism (VPMM) system
mounted on the towing carriage to carry out studies
on the hydrodynamic characteristics of submerged
bodies. A large amplitude horizontal planar motion
mechanism mounted on the towing carriage helps in
undertaking study of manoeuvring characteristics and
control effectiveness of surface ships.
Resistance, propulsion, flow visualisation, wake
survey, planar- motion tests, etc., can be carried out on
6
February 2014
Cavitational Tunnel
steel shell, stroboscopy and videography system and
sensors, 3- and 5- component dynamometers, 2D wake
models/dynamometers mounted on large removable
traverse, 3D boundary layer traverse with 25 micron
test section cover.
step size
Propeller open water and behind model tests, hullpropeller interaction, cavitation and flow visualisation
test on submerged bodies, hydrodynamic forces and
moments on underwater bodies, wake survey behind
bodies in flow, measurement of noise from underwater
bodies and propellers, etc., can be carried out in the
Naval Stealth Testing Facilities
NSTL has established an open range Radar CrossSection Measurement Facility to cater to the need of
measurement and analysis of radar cross-section and
radar imaging of naval targets in real-time sea scenario.
cavitation tunnel.
The facility comprises a state-of-the-art Wideband
Wind Tunnel
Asia｜for measurement of radar cross-section and
Instrumentation Radar (WBIR)｜one of its kind in
The wind tunnel is being used for carrying out
pressure distribution over the body and control surfaces,
detailed explorations of velocity at boundary layer,
wall shear stress measurement, forces and moments
imaging of naval targets. WBIR is a frequency modulated
continuous wave radar with many complex systems/
sensors integrated through dedicated software to
provide greater accuracy, operational comfort during
on body and appendages, and detailed study of flow
measurements and reliable and thorough analysis of
patterns on the surface, boundary layer and wake
the measurement data. The radar is able to simulate the
of the model using flow visualisation techniques. It
look angles of a missile seeker up to 13 degrees. It also
comprises pressure transducers, multi-port electronic
has facility for gross radar cross-section measurement
pressure scanners and multiplexing pressure sensors,
and range profiling and imaging through high-range
hot wire anemometer, 3D velocity probes, shear stress
resolution (HRR).
Wind Tunnel
Wideband Instrumentation Radar
February 2014
7
Test Facility for Evaluation of Infrared
Signature Suppression Devices
Naval ships operating in littoral waters are
susceptible to infrared (IR)-guided missile attacks as
uncooled exhaust ducting and exhaust gases emit IR
radiation in medium and far IR wave bands. Installation
of IR Signature Suppression (IRSS) systems reduces IR
signature of the platform by 85-90 per cent in both
the bands and improves the survivability of platforms
against IR guided threats.
In order to evaluate performance of the IRSS device,
NSTL has established IRSS model test facility which can
simulate engine flow conditions for testing IRSS devices
up to 1 MW capacity and scale down models beyond
1 MW. The test facility consists of a hot air generator,
which can generate hot air up to 6 kg/s at temperature
ranging from 50-500 ºC and a test structure capable of
accommodating IRSS device of size Ø1.0 m x 3.5 m long
with provision to measure parameters for performance
evaluation.
Underwater Extremely Low Frequency
Electric Field Signature Measurement
Range
NSTL has set-up an Extremely Low Frequency
Electric Field (ELFE) range at underwater ranges Goa,
to measure ELFE signature of all classes of naval vessels
and find solutions to mitigate them as part of ship’s
design and operations. In cases where countermeasures
to ELFE signature is available onboard ships, which
includes, active shaft grounding system and cathodic
protection system filtering, their efficacy and the
optimum functional availability are aimed to be
established through the process of ELFE ranging.
Acoustic Signature Measurement
NSTL is also a certified agency of Indian Noise
Pollution Control Board which censures the noisier
equipment. Various systems developed in-house or
elsewhere and intended to be used by the Indian
navy are evaluated for their acoustic hygiene in low
background noise and free-field conditions to obtain
realistic acoustic parameters. NSTL has test facilities
such as anechoic chamber and reverberation chamber
for evaluation of the acoustics
An anechoic chamber can simulate free field
environment with no reflecting boundaries, with very
little variations in the environmental parameters such
IRSS Device Test Facility
8
February 2014
as temperature and humidity. The entire chamber is
equipped with free field microphones, rotating boom,
advanced analyser loaded with noise analysis.
Shock and Vibration Test Facilities
Shock Tank
The double-walled shock tank (15 m x 12 m x 10 m)
is used to carry out explosion studies on structures,
materials in free field. It comprises a Floating Shock
Platform (FSP) for testing of equipment of up to 15 ton.
Its shock tube facility simulates crash conditions and
generates up to 3500 g/65 ms half-sine pulse. Besides,
facility also has high-speed data loggers and data
acquisition systems, and advanced analysis tools for
damage potential estimation and response spectrum
analysis.
Anechoic Chamber with necessary Instrumentation
mounted on neoprene rubber pads to isolate the room
from vibrations. The room is equipped with low noise
and high sensitive microphones, intensity probes, five
degrees of freedom robotic sensor positioning system,
and an analyser loaded with advanced software. The
chamber has a silenced ventilation system. Ambient
noise levels in the room are less than 25 dB (A). The
anechoic room can be used for evaluation of a specimen
size of 8 m3 with very low cut-off frequency of 100 Hz.
The reverberation room is used for acoustic
Shock Tank
Impact Shock Test Machine
characterisation of materials for building barriers, doors,
Impact shock test machine has a payload capacity
windows, etc. The reverberation room is designed for
of 1 ton. It can be mounted on a table of 1.5 m x
crating highly diffuse sound field within a very short
1.5 m size. The machine comprises advanced analysis
time. It is constructed with non-parallel roof and walls
tools like Shock Response Spectrum (SRS), Fast-Fourier
with highly reflective epoxy paints. The chamber is
Transform (FFT), and Power Spectral Density (PSD).
February 2014
9
Torpedo Tests and Trials Facilities
Nagarjuna Sagar Lake Test Facility
Nagarjuna Sagar Lake Test Facility (NSLTF)
facilitates sub-systems proving trials of underwater
weapons during the developmental phase in the
confined waters of the lake. Depth of the water in the
lake varies from 110 ft (minimum) to 330 ft (maximum).
The lake bottom is 260 ft above mean sea level. This
facility has two bay Boat Repair Shops (BRS) and an
air-conditioned torpedo preparation bay. A 200 m
long one-in-ten ramp jetty with set of rails extends
Impact Shock Test Machine
Vibration Exciters
from the inside of the BRS into the lake. The test and
trials range of the lake measures about 4 km in length,
2 km in width and 30-60 m in depth and is demarcated
The electro-dynamic vibration exciters, up to 8 ton
for proving trials after thorough hydrographic survey.
force rating, are capable of testing pay loads up to 2
NSLTF has boarding and lodging facilities for trial
ton and frequency range up to 2 kHz. The exciters cater
team members and has been extensively used for the
for both sine and random vibration tests. Tests can be
sub-systems proving of some of the critical weapon
performed in all three axes. PC-based controllers help
projects of the NSTL.
in precise control of tests and data storage for post test
analysis.
Catamaran Torpedo Launch and Recovery
Vessel｜MV Sailasutha
MV Sailasutha, the Catamaran Torpedo Launch and
Recovery Vessel (CTLRV), is the main platform at NSLTF
Vibration Exciters
10 February 2014
from which the launching and recovery of weapon
MV Sailasutha
systems are carried out for proving trials. The ship is
capable of launching the torpedo from the deck and
also underneath in swim out mode. The platform has
X-band radar, global positioning system, echo sounder,
and high and very high frequency communication
systems onboard.
Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin
Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin (SMB) is a
state-of-the-art 135 m x 37 m x 5 m hydrodynamic
test facility coming up in NSTL. The facility will be
used for conducting
model testing for prediction
Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin
of seakeeping and manoeuvering performance
of newly designed ships and submerged bodies
under different environmental conditions and for
optimising the motion characteristics of the hull form
and effectiveness of the control devices under various
manoeuvers. Short crested and long crested regular
and irregular waves can be generated in the facility
using the multi-element wave generation system.
With Computerised Multi Motion Carriage both free
running and captive model testing can be performed
in the facility. SMB is an important facility for achieving
self-reliance in the domain of hydrodynamic model
testing.
Electrical Propulsion Test Centre
120 kW Contra-Rotating Eddy Current
Dynamometer
It is a PC-based DC contra rotating motor test rig
consisting of tandem eddy current dynamometer
and is being used for load testing of contra-rotating
propulsion motors. It has a load capacity of up to
120 kW per shaft with a power output of 120 kW at
3000 rpm per shaft. Rated torque of the rig is 9 kg.m.
to 50 kg.m at 3000 rpm per shaft. Speed range for each
shaft is 500 to 3000 rpm.
120 kW Contra-rotating Eddy Current Dynamometer Set-up
February 2014 11
350
350kW
kWSingle
SingleShaft
ShaftEddy-Current
EDDY-Current
Dynamometer
Dynamometer
The PC-based 350 kW electric motor test rig with
eddy current and pneumatic dynamometer in tandem
is used for load testing of single shaft propulsion
motors. The test rig has a capacity of 350 kW at 4000
rpm. Its rated power is up to 350 kW, rated torque is
180 kg.m @ 2000 rpm and speed range 0-5000 rpm. Its
rotation is bi-directional.
Statement about Technology Focus under Rule 10 of the Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rule 1965
1. Place of Publication :
DESIDOC, Metcalfe House, Delhi-110 054
2. Periodcity of Publication
:
Bimonthly
3.
Printer’s Name
:
Nationality
Address
Shri SK Jindal
Indian
DESIDOC, Metcalfe House, Delhi-110 054
4. Publisher’s Name
:
Nationality
Address
Shri SK Jindal
Indian
DESIDOC, Metcalfe House, Delhi-110 054
5. Editor-in-Chief
:
Nationality
Address
Shri SK Jindal
Indian
DESIDOC, Metcalfe House, Delhi-110 054
6. Name and address of individual who
:
owns the newspaper and partners
or shareholders holding more than one
per cent of the total capital.
Defence Research and Development Organisation
I, SK Jindal, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to my knowledge and belief.
Sd/(SK Jindal)
Signature of Publisher
Technology Focus focuses on the technological developments in the Organisation, covering the products, processes and technologies.