Numerical investigation of a fleet of towed AUVs

Rattanasiri, Pareecha; Wilson, Philip A.; Phillips, Alexander B.. 2014 Numerical investigation of a fleet of towed AUVs. Ocean Engineering, 80. 25-35. 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.02.001

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.02.001

Abstract/Summary

This paper investigates the influence on the fleet of the drag of multiple towed prolate spheroids to determine the hydrodynamic effect of the viscous interaction between hulls and to study the influence of the configuration׳s shape of multiple hulls in the vee and echelon formations. A series of CFD RANS-SST simulations has been performed at the Reynolds Number 3.2×106 by a commercial code ANSYS CFX 12.1. Mesh convergence is tested and then validated with experimental and empirical results. The drag of each spheroid is compared against the benchmark drag of a single hull. The results show that the spacing between two hulls determines the individual drag and combined drag. The dominant spacing has been classified into seven zones based on the drag characteristic of twin towed models. Regions are characterised to parallel, echelon, no gain, push, drafting, low interaction, and no interaction. Both the multi-vehicle vee and echelon configurations show limited influence against that of the entire fleet׳s energy budget. For an individual spheroid where a lower propulsion cost is required, then the use of three/four in vee or echelon formation should be considered. Based on this numerical information, operators can determine the optimal fleet configuration based on energy considerations.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.02.001
ISSN:	00298018
Additional Keywords:	Co-operative AUVs; Fleet of AUVs; Towed model; Vee formation; Echelon formation; CFD RANS-SST simulation
NORA Subject Terms:	Marine Sciences
Date made live:	30 Mar 2015 12:48 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/510501

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.oceaneng.2014.02.001

ISSN:

00298018

Additional Keywords:

Co-operative AUVs; Fleet of AUVs; Towed model; Vee formation; Echelon formation; CFD RANS-SST simulation

NORA Subject Terms:

Marine Sciences

Date made live:

30 Mar 2015 12:48 +0 (UTC)