CFD-based Determination of Load Cell Capacity for Submarine HPMM Model Tests

Abstract

Captive model tests are one of the most common methods to calculate the maneuvering hydrodynamic coefficients and characteristics of surface and underwater vehicles. Considerable attention must be paid to selecting and designing the most suitable laboratory equipment for towing tanks. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) -based method is implemented to determine the loads acting on the towing facility of the submarine model. A reversed topology is also used to ensure the appropriateness of the load cells in the developed method. In this study, the numerical simulations were evaluated using the experimental results of the SUBOFF benchmark submarine model of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. The maximum and minimum loads acting on the 2.5-meter submarine model were measured by determining the body’s lightest and heaviest maneuvering test scenarios. In addition to having sufficient endurance against high loads, the precision in measuring the light load was also investigated. The horizontal planar motion mechanism (HPMM) facilities in the National Iranian Marine Laboratory were developed by locating the load cells inside the submarine model. The results were presented as a case study. A numerical-based method was developed to obtain the appropriate load measurement facilities. Load cells of HPMM test basins can be selected by following the two-way procedure presented in this study.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Harbin Engineering University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature