Dynamics of a Small Autonomous Underwater Vehicle That Tows a Large Payload

This thesis presents the derivation of the dynamic model of an autonomous underwater vehicle that tows a large payload. Our analysis is motivated by the fact that the payload is so large that it cannot be modeled by simply appending its dynamics to the dynamics of the autonomous underwater vehicle. Hence, the coupling between the vehicle and payload must be fully modeled. Furthermore, several approximation techniques based on analytic and empirical formulations are investigated for computing the hydrodynamic coefficients of the vehicle. Efficacy and limitations of the approximation techniques are assessed by comparison with hydrodynamic coefficients that are estimated using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Kepler, Michael Eugene

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Stilwell, Daniel J.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Baumann, William T.
• Brizzolara, Stefano

• Autonomous underwater vehicles
• Multi-body systems
• Multi-body coupled dynamics
• Rope dynamics

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:16901

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/84915