Proximity Operations of an Underwater Vehicle to a Host Vessel

摘要

This paper presents a method for estimating the forces and moments on the sixaxes of an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) operating in close proximity to a host vessel forces and moments encountered by the vehicle in the host vessel launchway, near the vessel and clear of the launchway, and far away from the host vessel, are modeled from experimental and theoretical sources. A quasi-steady approach to the vehicle launch dynamics allows coupling of experimental data, potential flow theory, and hydrodynamic maneuvering coefficients to develop an algorithm capable of modeling vehicle and host vessel interactions with any user defined trajectory. A vehicle motion simulation study was performed using the Revised Standard Equations of Motion (EOM) augmented to incorporate the interaction force model for proximity effects of the UUV to a host. Application of the trajectory simulation and force and moment time history are developed for a underwater vehicle launching from a submerged host illustrating the hydrodynamic interaction of the vehicle to the host. The method is developed to account for host forward speed, UUV propulsor effects, and open water hydrodynamics. The robustness of the method is demonstrated for several launch trajectories.