Ultrasonic control of marine fouling

The natural phenomenon of biofouling has brought about many undesirable consequences to the maritime industry. In the prevention of biofouling, anti-fouling methods have been highly sought after and anti-fouling coatings containing TBT compounds took precedence and was the most commonly utilised form of anti-fouling. However, TBT compounds inflicts catastrophic effects to the marine environment which brought about controversial attention to the IMO and eventually a worldwide ban on its usage was promulgated. The worldwide ban on the utilisation of TBT containing anti-fouling coatings has hence brought about increased demands to an alternative anti-fouling method, preferably a method which is friendly to the marine environment. In the exploration of an environmentally-benign anti-fouling method, the acoustic method which utilises ultrasonic waves exhibits potential in the prevention of biofouling. The continuation of the project seeks to replicate the application of Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGW) at 100kHz in the shear horizontal mode into a surface of larger dimensions to evaluate on its effectiveness. The conduct of the experiment was held at a shipyard where conditions were experienced by vessels. The conduct of the experiment was presented with contradicting results compared to the previously acquired positive results. Although the results obtained in this experiment did not meet the expectations of the hypothesis, some concerns were highlighted in the recommendations in hope for positive results in the future.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering