Dynamics of Novel Air-Assisted Marine Vehicles

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This project will investigate the dynamics of novel air-assisted marine vehicles that include energy-efficient air-cavity hulls and fast amphibious platforms. The dynamics of these vehicles is very complex due to unsteady phenomena in compliant air zones between hulls and water and high-speed body motions near the air-sea interface. The main research goals are to derive and investigate dynamical systems for vehicle motions and to establish methods for determining static and dynamic stability, motions in waves and transient regimes, and effective control approaches. The scope of this work include derivation of mathematical models for vehicle dynamics, determination of forces with help of simplified modeling, detailed computational simulations, and experiments, and validation of theoretical findings on scaled experimental models of air-assisted marine vehicles.This research will provide understanding on how to design and control novel sea-going air-assisted marine vehicles with exceptional efficiency and speed characteristics. Cargo ships will benefit from air cavity systems that can decrease drag by up to 30 percent. Reductions in underwater noise and wake wash will be additional environmentally friendly by-products. Ultra-fast heavy-lift amphibious craft with speeds well above 100 mph will provide efficient transportation means for Arctic regions and for rescue and security operations in oceans and on islands. Obtained research results will be broadly disseminated and integrated into existing and new courses and summer schools. Demonstrator models of advanced marine vehicles will provide an effective means to recruit students to careers in engineering.