Infrastructure for 3D model reconstruction of marine structures

3D model reconstruction of marine structures, such as dams, oil-rigs, and sea caves, is both important and challenging. An important application includes structural inspection. Manual inspection of marine structures is tedious and even a small oversight can have severe consequences for the structure and the people around it. A robotic system that can construct 3D models of marine structures would hopefully reduce the chances of oversight, and hence improve the safety of marine environment. Due to the water currents and wakes, developing a robotic system to construct 3D models of marine structures is a challenge, as it is difficult for a robot to reach the desired scan configurations and take a scan of the environment while remaining stationary. This paper presents our preliminary work in developing a robotic and software system for construction of 3D models of marine structures. We have successfully tested our system in a sea water environment in the Singapore Straits

Flow separation control with rotating cylinders

Thesis (S.M. in Ocean Engineering)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62).The hydrodynamic forces on ocean vehicles increase dramatically during sharp maneuvers as compared to forward motion due to large areas of separated flow. These large forces severely limit maneuverability and reduce efficiency. Applying active flow separation control to ocean vehicles would reduce resistance during maneuvers and thereby improve maneuvering performance. In this thesis I discuss experiments in active separation control in a simpler, but still relevant, two-dimensional flow past a circular cylinder at moderate sub-critical Reynolds numbers (37,000 and 52,000 in experiment and 100 and 10,000 in simulation). The active control injects momentum into the boundary layer via the moving surfaces of two small control cylinders located near boundary layer separation and rotated by servo motors. The relationship between drag and rotation rate is found to be Reynolds number regime dependent; at Re = 100 the drag decreases linearly with rotation rate and at Re = 10,000, the relationship is non-linear. This nonlinearity appears to be due to the interaction between vortex shedding from the small control cylinders (which does not occur at Re = 100) and the main cylinder wake. Computational two-dimensional viscous simulations are consistent with the physical experiment and help to illustrate the phenomenon. Finally, the power consumed by the active control mechanism is considered and estimated to be significantly smaller than the power savings in reduced drag.by .James Crandall SchulmeisterS.M.in Ocean Engineerin

Active and passive separation control for drag reduction of a maneuvering hull form

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-212).Boundary layer separation is a source of large fluid dynamic forces on many engineered vehicles and structures, limiting the speed and efficiency at which we transport people and goods. The maneuvering of ocean and air vehicles in particular is limited by resistance due to cross-flow separation. Hull forms with lower hydrodynamic resistance in maneuvers are able to follow trajectories with tighter turns and at higher speeds. Despite the progress that has been made in the control of two dimensional flow separation, little has been done to apply flow control to complex three-dimensional separation from maneuvering hull forms. This thesis studies and develops mechanisms for mitigating three-dimensional cross-flow separation to reduce the drag of hull forms in maneuvers. A new strategy is proposed for designing flow control mechanisms for the three dimensional flow past maneuvering hull forms based on the unsteady cross-flow analogy. The unsteady cross-flow analogy relates the steady flow past a three-dimensional body to an analogous unsteady two-dimensional flow past a cylinder that changes size and shape in time. This provides a framework for adapting two-dimensional drag reduction techniques to the three-dimensional flow. In addition, the unsteady cross-flow analogy is computationally inexpensive and so is suitable for iterative use in preliminary design. The new strategy is considered by first implementing the unsteady cross-flow analogy in numerical simulations. Next, passive and active flow control mechanisms are studied experimentally for drag reduction of a circular cylinder and then adapted through the analogy for drag reduction of a slender body at an angle of attack. Passive control is exerted through modifications to the shape of the body and active control is exerted with rotating control cylinders. Both passive and active methods are experimentally demonstrated to reduce the drag. The experimental results also confirm key predictions of the unsteady cross-flow analogy, demonstrating that it is a promising tool for developing three-dimensional separation control techniques.by James Crandall Schulmeister.Ph. D