Simulation of Hydrodynamic Performance of Drag and Double Reverse Propeller Podded Propulsors

The unsteady performance of drag and double reverse propeller podded propulsors in open water was numerically simulated using a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） method. A moving mesh method was used to more realistically simulate propulsor working conditions, and the thrust, torque, and lateral force coefficients of both propulsors were compared and analyzed. Forces acting on different parts of the propulsors along with the flow field distribution of steady and unsteady results at different advance coefficients were compared. Moreover, the change of the lateral force and the difference between the abovementioned two methods were mainly analyzed. It was shown that the thrust and torque results of both methods were similar, with the lateral force results having the highest deviation

RANS Simulation of Podded Propulsor Performances in Straight Forward Motion

The Computational Fluid Dynamics （CFD） approach is adopted to study the steady and unsteady performances of the podded propulsor by the Fluent software package. While the interactions of the propeller blades with the pod and strut are time-dependent by nature, the mixing plane model is employed firstly to predict the steady performance, where the interactions are time-averaged. Numerical experiments are carried out with systematically varied mesh sizes to investigate the dependence of the predicted force values on the mesh sizes. Furthermore, the sliding mesh model is employed to simulate the unsteady interactions between the blades, pod and strut. Based on the numerical results, the characteristics of unsteady hydrodynamic forces are discussed, and the applicability of the mixing plane model is investigated for puller-type podded propulsor.

Fuzzy neural network control of underwater vehicles based on desired state programming

Due to the nonlinearity and uncertainty, the precise control of underwater vehicles in some intelligent operations hasn’t been solved very well yet. A novel method of control based on desired state programming was presented, which used the technique of fuzzy neural network. The structure of fuzzy neural network was constructed according to the moving characters and the back propagation algorithm was deduced. Simulation experiments were conducted on general detection remotely operated vehicle. The results show that there is a great improvement in response and precision over traditional control, and good robustness to the model’s uncertainty and external disturbance, which has theoretical and practical value.

Experimental Study on Hydrodynamics of L-type Podded Propulsor in Straight-ahead Motion and Off-Design Conditions

Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance of an L-type podded propulsor in straight-ahead motion and off-design conditions using an open-water measuring instrument developed by the authors for podded propulsors, a ship model towing tank, and under water particle image velocimetry （PIV） measurement systems. Under the three types of conditions, the main parameters of an L-type podded propulsor were measured, including the propeller thrust and torque, as well as the thrust, side force, and moment of the whole pod unit.In addition, the flow field on the section between the propeller and the strut was analyzed. Experimental results demonstrate that the dynamic azimuthing rate and direction and the turning direction affect the forces on the propeller and the whole pod unit. Forces are asymmetrically distributed between the left and right azimuthing directions because of the effect of propeller rotation. The findings of this study provide a foundation for further research on L-type podded propulsors.

A Method for Calculation of Low-Frequency Slow Drift Motions Based on NURBS for Floating Bodies

Through a higher-order boundary element method based on NURBS （Non-uniform Rational B-splines）, the calculation of second-order low-frequency forces and slow drift motions is conducted for floating bodies. In the floating body＇s inner domain, an auxiliary equation is obtained by applying a Green function which satisfies the solid surface condition. Then, the auxiliary equation and the velocity potential equation are combined in the fluid domain to remove the solid angle coefficient and the singularity of the double layer potentials in the integral equation. Thus, a new velocity potential integral equation is obtained. The new equation is extended to the inner domain to reheve the irregular frequency effects; on the basis of the order analysis, the comparison is made about the contribution of all integral terms with the result in the second-order tow-frequency problem; the higher-order boundary element method based on NURBS is apphed to calculate the geometric position and velocity potentials; the slow drift motions are calculated by the spectrum analysis method. Removing the solid angle coefficient can apply NURBS technology to the hydrodynamic calculation of floating bodies with complex surfaces, and the extended boundary integral method can reduce the irregular frequency effects. Order analysis shows that free surface integral can be neglected, and the numerical results can also prove the correctness of order analysis. The results of second-order low-frequency forces and slow drift motions and the comparison with the results from references show that the application of the NURBS technology to the second-order low-frequency problem is of high efficiency and credible results.

SCATTERING OF THE HARMONIC STRESS WAVE BY CRACKS IN FUNCTIONALLY GRADED PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS

The present paper considers the scattering of the time harmonic stress wave by a single crack and two collinear cracks in functionally graded piezoelectric material （FGPM）. It is assumed that the properties of the FGPM vary continuously as an exponential function. By using the Fourier transform and defining the jumps of displacements and electric potential components across the crack surface as the unknown functions, two pairs of dual integral equations are derived. To solve the dual integral equations, the jumps of the displacement and electric potential components across the crack surface are expanded in a series of Jacobi polynomials. Numerical examples are provided to show the influences of material properties on the dynamic stress and the electric displacement intensity factors.

Numerical simulation of bubble breakup phenomena in anarrow flow field

Based on the boundary integral method, a 3D bubble breakup model in a narrow flow field is established, and a corresponding computation program is developed to simulate the symmetrical and asymmetrical bubble breakup. The calculated results are compared with the experimental results and agree with them very well, indicating that the numerical model is valid. Based on the basic behavior of bubbles in a narrow flow field, the symmetrical and asymmetrical bubble breakup is studied systematically using the developed program. A feasibility rule of 3D bubble breakup is presented. The dynamics of sub-bubbles after splitting is studied. The influences of characteristic parameters on bubble breakup and sub-bubble dynamics are analyzed.

Analysis of structural dynamic characteristics of a high speed light special catamaran

In this paper,structural dynamic characteristics of a high-speed light special catamaran-wave piercing catamaran are analyzed using the FEA software MSC-NASTRAN. The dynamic reduction method is introduced to eliminate the local vibration modes in order to obtain the whole ship＇s mode shapes. In the post-processor, a lot of accessorial methods are adopted to eliminate the local vibrations, so that the whole ship＇s mode shapes can be identified. The modal analysis indicates that the dynamic reduction method fits for mode shapes identifying. In the end,the test results of a catamaran named Frederick G. Greed are used for reference to validate the obtained results. The comparison process shows that the results are credible. A special mode shape, which is quite different with that of conventional monohull ship, is also pointed out. The obtained results provide a valuable reference for the coming computation of catamaran＇s vihration characteristics.

Fusion dynamics of underwater explosion bubbles

Fusion of bubbles is a common and significant phenomenon in the nature. In this work, the potential flow theory and the boundary integral method are employed to simulate the fusion of underwater explosion bubbles. Based on the numerical and experimental results in the literature, a three-dimensional model of bubble fusion is established. A good agreement is shown between the numerical results and experimental data. Influences of characteristic parameters such as distance and depth are specifically investigated by using the developed three-dimensional program, resulting in favorable curves and conclusions. This work provides references for the relevant research on fusion mechanics and dynamic characteristics of bubbles.

Numerical Analysis of a Blocking Mass Attenuating Wave Propagation

Based on wave theory, blocking mass impeding propagation of flexural waves was analyzed with force excitation applied on a ship pedestal. The analysis model of a complex structure was developed by combining statistical energy analysis and the finite element method. Based on the hybrid FE-SEA method, the vibro-acoustic response of a complex structure was solved. Then, the sound radiation of a cylindrical shell model influenced by blocking mass was calculated in mid/high frequency. The result shows that blocking mass has an obvious effect on impeding propagation. The study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for application of the blocking mass to structure-borne sound propagation control.

Thermal insulation and cooling properties of thermal barrier coatings of flame baffles

In order to study the thermal insulation and cooling properties of thermal barrier coatings of a flame baffle,several ZrO2 thermal barrier coatings with different thicknesses were prepared on the surface of aluminium-alloy flame-baffle samples by plasma spraying.The relations between temperature and time of these samples were tested when they were heated by combustion flame.The relations between temperature of the coatings and the sample bodies and time were also tested when the samples at high temperatures were cooled by water.The experimental results indicated that ① the thicker the thermal barrier coatings,the better the thermal insulation effect of the thermal barrier;② the higher the temperature,the more significant of the thermal insulation of the thermal barrier.Also,in the case of water-cooling,the cooling rate of the coatings was greatly subject to the plate body and the cooling rate of coatings below 1.0mm was equivalent to that of the plate body.

An experimental research of fluid piston oscillation in square moon pool under the wave-flow combined conditions

The article studies the oscillation features of the water in the square moon pool under the circumstances of wave-flow combined conditions. Comparing with the results of experiments of the square moon pool, a series of studies reveal that the water piston oscillation phenomenon is quite similar to that of the circular one. Two types of oscillation are exhibited under different incoming wave periods, i.e. self-excited oscillation and forced oscillation. The difference between the circular and square moon pool is that the attack angle makes greater influences on the square one. "Beating phenomenon" is also found in the square moon pool which is not mentioned of the circular one.

Detection of Underwater Objects by Adaptive Threshold FCM Based on Frequency Domain and Time Domain

According to the characteristics of sonar image data with big data feature, In order to accurately detect underwater objects of sonar image, a novel adaptive threshold FCM (Fuzzy Clustering Algorithm, FCM) based on frequency domain and time domain is proposed. Based on the relationship between sonar image data and big data, Firstly, wavelet de-noising method is used to smooth noise. After de-noising, the sonar image is blocked and each sub-block region is processed by two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform, their maximum amplitude spectrum used as frequency domain character, then time domain of mean and standard deviation, frequency domain of maximum amplitude spectrum are taken for character to complete block k-means clustering, the initial clustering center is determined, after that made use of FCM on sonar image detection, based on clustered image, adaptive threshold is constructed by the distribution of sonar image sea-bottom reverberation region, and final detection results of sonar image are completed. The comparison different experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm get good detection precision and adaptability.

Nonlinear oscillations with parametric excitation solved by homotopy analysis method

An analytical technique, namely the homotopy analysis method （HAM）, is used to solve problems of nonlinear oscillations with parametric excitation. Unlike perturbation methods, HAM is not dependent on any small physical parameters at all, and thus valid for both weakly and strongly nonlinear problems. In addition, HAM is different from all other analytic techniques in providing a simple way to adjust and control convergence region of the series solution by means of an auxiliary parameter h. In the present paper, a periodic analytic approximations for nonlinear oscillations with parametric excitation are obtained by using HAM, and the results are validated by numerical simulations.

The interaction between multiple bubbles and the free surface

The flow is assumed to be potential, and a boundary integral method is used to solve the Laplace equation for the velocity potential to investigate the shape and the position of the bubble. A 3D code to study the bubble dynamics is developed, and the calculation results agree well with the experimental data. Numerical analyses are carried out for the interaction between multiple bubbles near the free surface including in-phase and out-of-phase bubbles. The calculation result shows that the bubble period increases with the decrease of the distance between bubble centres because of the depression effect between multiple bubbles. The depression has no relationship with the free surface and it is more apparent for out-of-phase bubbles. There are great differences in dynamic behaviour between the in-phase bubbles and the out-of-phase bubbles due to the depression effect. Furthermore, the interaction among eight bubbles is simulated with a three-dlmensional model, and the evolving process and the relevant physical phenomena are presented. These phenomena can give a reference to the future work on the power of bubbles induced by multiple charges exploding simultaneously or continuously.

Reliability Analysis Based on a Direct Ship Hull Strength Assessment

A method of reliability analysis based on a direct strength calculation employing the von Mises stress failure criterion is presented here. The short term strain distributions of ship hull structural components are identified through the statistical analysis of the wave-induced strain history and the long term distributions by the weighted summation of the short term strain distributions. The wave-induced long term strain distribution is combined with the still water strain. The extreme strain distribution of the response strain is obtained by statistical analysis of the combined strains. The limit state function of the reliability analysis is based on the von Mises stress failure criterion, including the related uncertainties due to the quality of the material and model uncertainty. The reliability index is calculated using FORM and sensitivity analysis of each variable that has effects on the reliability is also discussed.

S^2 BHCA-Multiple AUVs cooperation oriented control architecture

Oceanographic survey, or other similar applications should be the applications of multiple AUVs. In this paper, the skill & simulation based hybrid control architecture (S2BHCA) as the controller's design reference was proposed. It is a multi-robot cooperation oriented intelligent control architecture based on hybrid ideas. The S2 BHCA attempts to incorporate the virtues of the reactive controller and of the deliberative controller by introducing the concept of the "skill". The additional online task simulation ability for cooperation is supported, too. As an application, a multiple AUV control system was developed with three "skills" for the MCM mission including two different cooperative tasks. The simulation and the sea trials show that simple task expression, fast reaction and better cooperation support can be achieved by realizing the AUV controller based on the S2 BHCA.

Numerical study of air layer drag reduction of an axisymmetric body in oscillatory motions

The air layer drag reduction(ALDR)of an axisymmetric body in oscillatory motions is investigated in this paper with open source toolbox OpenFOAM.The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes(URANS)equations are used to determine the viscous flow and the volume of fluid(VOF)model is adopted to capture the interface of the air-water two-phase flow.The k-e turbulence model is adopted to simulate the turbulence.The dynamic mesh technique is applied to model the movement of the axisymmetric body.Firstly,the ALDR results are validated by the experimental data.Then,the effects of the movements of the body on the drag reduction during the ALDR state are investigated.Two representative kinds of movements are considered,namely,the pitch and the heave.The numerical results show that the drag reduction varies during the movements and the average drag reduction rates will be reduced.The variation of the drag reduction is related to the morphological change of the air layer.The heave motion is more likely to reduce the effects of the ALDR than the pitch motion.For both oscillatory motions,the large motion amplitude and the low motion period are not conductive to improving the effects of the ALDR.The effects of the oscillatory motion on the ALDR are more sensitive at high water speeds than at low water speeds.Besides,increasing the air flow ratio can be considered as one way to improve the effects of the ALDR.