Hydrodynamic and dynamic analysis to determine the directional stability of an underwater vehicle near a free surface

A theoretical methodology to determine the open-loop directional stability of a near-surface underwater vehicle is presented. It involves a solution of coupled sway and yaw equations of motion in a manner similar to that carried out for surface ships. The stability derivatives are obtained numerically through simulation of motions corresponding to planar motion mechanism (PMM) model tests. For the numerical simulation, a boundary-integral method based on the mixed Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation is developed. The free-surface effect on the vehicle stability is determined by comparing the results with that obtained for vehicle motion in infinite fluid. The methodology was used to determine the stability of the Florida Atlantic University’s Ocean EXplorer (OEX) AUV. The presence of the free surface, through radiation damping, is found to suppress unsteady oscillations and thereby enhance the directional stability of the vehicle. With effects of free surface, forward speed, location and geometry of rudders, location of the center of gravity etc. all being significant factors affecting stability, a general conclusion cannot be drawn on their combined effect on the vehicle stability. The present computational methodology is therefore a useful tool to determine an underwater vehicle’s stability for a given configuration and thus the viability of an intended mission a priori.     

Parametric study for underwater blast-induced pipeline response embedded in marine sediments

Abstract

Blast response of submerged pipelines has been a research focus in recent years. In this article, a three-dimensional numerical model is established to investigate dynamic response of pipelines due to underwater explosion. The u–p approximation is integrated into finite element method (FEM) to simulate pore water effect in the seabed. Numerical continuity between hydraulic pressure in the flow field and pore pressure in the marine sediment is guaranteed to realize the blast response of submerged pipelines in ocean environment. Both fluid–structure interaction (FSI) and pipeline–seabed interaction (PSI) have been considered in the proposed model simultaneously. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out after validation of the present model with test data from underground explosion and underwater explosion, respectively. The effect of embedment depth, TNT equivalent, stand-off distance, pipeline diameter, and pipeline thickness to blast response of the submerged pipelines is investigated based on numerical results. Variation of deformation patterns and stress distribution of the pipeline with various installation and structure parameters has been illustrated and discussed to facilitate engineering practice.     

浅地层剖面系统在福建沿海海底沉船调查中的应用

海底沉船是水下文化遗产的一种重要类型和存在形式,利用综合地球物理手段对福建平潭、莆田及福州海域的海底沉船进行了探测研究,并重点探讨了不同浅地层剖面系统及不同探测频率在不同埋藏状态的水下文物调查中的应用。结果表明:浅地层剖面探测能够有效识别处于不同埋藏状态的沉船,尤其对探测埋藏海底面以下的沉船具有其他探测手段无法比拟的优势,但是探测频率的调节对目标物探测结果存在较大差异,对于埋藏式的海底沉船低频信号探测效果较理想。     

Nonlinear adaptive control of an underwater towed vehicle

This paper addresses the problem of simultaneous depth tracking and attitude control of an underwater towed vehicle. The system proposed uses a two-stage towing arrangement that includes a long primary cable, a gravitic depressor, and a secondary cable. The towfish motion induced by wave driven disturbances in both the vertical and horizontal planes is described using an empirical model of the depressor motion and a spring-damper model of the secondary cable. A nonlinear, Lyapunov-based, adaptive output feedback control law is designed and shown to regulate pitch, yaw, and depth tracking errors to zero. The controller is designed to operate in the presence of plant parameter uncertainty. When subjected to bounded external disturbances, the tracking errors converge to a neighbourhood of the origin that can be made arbitrarily small. In the implementation proposed, a nonlinear observer is used to estimate the linear velocities used by the controller thus dispensing with the need for costly sensor suites. The results obtained with computer simulations show that the controlled system exhibits good performance about different operating conditions when subjected to sea-wave driven disturbances and in the presence of sensor noise. The system holds promise for application in oceanographic missions that require depth tracking or bottom-following combined with precise vehicle attitude control.     

Underwater autonomous manipulation for intervention missions AUVs

Many underwater intervention tasks are today performed using manned submersibles or remotely operated vehicles in teleoperation mode. Autonomous underwater vehicles are mostly employed in survey applications. In fact, the low bandwidth and significant time delay inherent in acoustic subsea communications represent a considerable obstacle to remotely operate a manipulation system, making it impossible for remote controllers to react to problems in a timely manner.Nevertheless, vehicles with no physical link and with no human occupants permit intervention in dangerous areas, such as in deep ocean, under ice, in missions to retrieve hazardous objects, or in classified areas. The key element in underwater intervention performed with autonomous vehicles is autonomous manipulation. This is a challenging technology milestone, which refers to the capability of a robot system that performs intervention tasks requiring physical contacts with unstructured environments without continuous human supervision.Today, only few AUVs are equipped with manipulators. SAUVIM (Semi Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Mission, University of Hawaii) is one of the first underwater vehicle capable of autonomous manipulation.This paper presents the solutions chosen within the development of the system in order to address the problems intrinsic to autonomous underwater manipulation. In the proposed approach, the most noticeable aspect is the increase in the level of information transferred between the system and the human supervisor.We describe one of the first trials of autonomous intervention performed by SAUVIM in the oceanic environment. To the best knowledge of the authors, no sea trials in underwater autonomous manipulation have been presented in the literature. The presented operation is an underwater recovery mission, which consists in a sequence of autonomous tasks finalized to search for the target and to securely hook a cable to it in order to bring the target to the surface.     

基于线阵水下定位的解析求解算法

当信号接收器位于同一直线时,DGPS水下立体定位系统的解析算法并不能解算出目标空间立体坐标。提出一种新方法,利用它们的几何关系,计算出它们所在平面的相对位置。得到平面位置可以作为求解立体坐标的一部分,还可以应用于平面内水下目标定位的测试。解算中四个信号接收器的数据可以解算出唯一解,当信号接收器数目大于四个时,利用最小二乘理论获最优解。该方法采用解析法直接求解,不存在定位结果的发散问题。     

台兴油田下第三系阜宁组下亚段储层沉积微相研究

通过钻井、测井资料分析,建立了台兴油田下第三系阜宁组(Ef3)下亚段测井相与沉积微相的关系,研究了台兴油田的沉积微相类型及主要含油气单元———各砂体沉积微相的平面展布特征。研究表明,Ef3下亚段主要砂体沉积微相类型为水下分流河道、河漫滩、河口砂坝以及席状砂沉积微相。     

基于PyQt5的水深比对检测系统在水下地形测量检查中的应用

水下地形测量质量检查主要通过布设一定数量的检查线,通过比对检查线和主测线相交处一定范围的测点水深差值来衡量,还需检查主测线长度、检查线长度、各深度区间中误差、不符值比例等参数信息。主测线数据和检查线数据量一般都比较大,单纯依靠人工对比计算难以高效、准确实现。目前Python语言以其简洁易用、可扩展行强的优点逐渐成为主流编程语言。PyQt5是Python中一个广泛使用的GUI工具包,可方便构建图形用户程序。本文针对水下地形测量质量检查检测数据量大、检查参数多的特点,利用Python语言,基于PyQt5设计开发了一套水深比对检测系统,在山东省水库水下地形测量质量检查中得到了实际应用,取得了较好的效果。     

Seafloor seismic acquisition using autonomous underwater vehicles

Although narrow-azimuth towed-streamer data provide good image quality for structural interpretation, it is generally accepted that for wide-azimuth marine surveys seabed receivers deliver superior seismic reflection measurements and seismically derived reservoir attributes. However, seabed surveys are not widely used due to the higher acquisition costs when compared to streamer acquisition. In recent years, there have been significant engineering efforts to automate receiver deployment and retrieval in order to minimize the cost differential and conduct cost-efficient seabed receiver seismic surveys. These engineering efforts include industrially engineered nodes, nodes on a rope deployment schemes and even robotic nodes, which swim to and from the deployment location. This move to automation is inevitable, leading to robotization of seismic data acquisition for exploration and development activities in the oil and gas industry. We are developing a robotic-based technology, which utilizes autonomous underwater vehicles as seismic sensors without the need of using a remotely operated vehicle for deployment and retrieval. In this paper, we describe the autonomous underwater vehicle evolution throughout the project years from initial heavy and bulky nodes to fully autonomous light and flexible underwater receivers. Results obtained from two field pilot tests using different generations of autonomous underwater vehicles indicate that the seismic coupling, and navigation based on underwater acoustics are very reliable and robust.     

Study on the gas-curtain generation characteristics by the multiple gas jets in a liquid-filled tube

To further understand the gas-curtain generation characteristics during the launching process of the underwater guns, a simulated gas-injector with multiple nozzles is designed and the expansion process of these multiple combustion-gas jets is experimentally captured. Experiment results indicate that, with turbulent mixing between the gas jets and the liquid medium, the gas curtain is generated in the observation chamber. Based on the experiment, a three dimensional unsteady model is established to simulate the expansion process of the multiple jets. Numerical result shows, with the injection of the gas jets, pressure declines in the Taylor cavity along the axial direction at the beginning. During the expansion process, the multiple jets contact and interact with each other, and pressure rises in the mixing area. After merging, backflow vortexes interact and converge, and the vortexes move along the axial direction with the expansion of the combustion gas jets.