Objective This paper aims to study the wind-induced noise of typical rods in the open areas of cruise ships.

Methods The numerical simulation of aerodynamic noise and wind-induced vibration noise is carried out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) combined with the acoustic analogy method and vibro-acoustic coupling method in order to explore the generation mechanisms and characteristics of the two kinds of noise.

Results  Under different wind speeds, the maximum frequency of aerodynamic noise is dominated by the vortex shedding frequency, while the maximum frequency of wind-induced vibration noise is dominated by the natural frequency of the structure. The aerodynamic noise of three different cross-section rods is generally greater than that of wind-induced vibration noise, and the aerodynamic noise of square rods is the greatest. Under large flexibility, when the fluctuating pressure frequency of the rod is close to the natural frequency, the wind-induced vibration noise will be close to or even exceed the aerodynamic noise.

Conclusions In the design of typical rods to be applied in the open areas of cruise ships, in order to reduce wind-induced noise, circular rods should be selected, square rods should be avoided, reasonable rod sizes should be selected and the vortex shedding frequency of the rods should not be close to the natural frequency.