Preliminary Study of Transformable Submersible Hydrofoil Trimaran

摘要

In the current political and socio-economic climate, it is imperative that countries be able to protect their sea lanes and coastal zones from surveillance and infiltration from foreign entities. As a result, developed and developing countries should be able to show their capability with blue water naval forces. Hence there is a need to develop innovative hull forms which would possess the elusive ability and capable of hot pursuit. This paper attempts to focus on a new type of ocean-going vessel, a transformable submersible hydrofoil trimaran (TSHT) which can travel both on the surface and underwater as necessary. With a transformable device and foldable hydrofoils between main hull and side hulls, TSHT has the ability to change from submarine underwater to a trimaran on the surface. This article will mainly focus on the introduction of TSHT and also make an attempt to compare hydrodynamic characteristics against similar types of displacement trimarans.