Determination of Hydrodynamic Parameters for Remotely Operated Vehicles

In this paper the hydrodynamic parameters that characterize the behavior of a typical unmanned underwater vehicle are evaluated. A complete method for identifying these parameters is described. The method is developed to give a brief and accurate estimate of these parameters in all six degrees of freedom using basic properties of the vehicle such as dimensions, mass and shape. The method is based on both empirical and analytical results for typical reference geometries (ellipsoids, cubes, etc.). The method is developed to be applicable for a wide variety of UUV designs as these typically varies substantially. The method is then applied to a small observation class ROV. The results are first verified using an experimental method in which the full scale ROV is towed using a planar motion mechanism. An additional verification is performed with numerical simulations using Computational Fluid Dynamics and a radiation/diffraction program. The method shows promising results for both damping and added mass for the tested case. The translational degrees of freedom are more accurate than the rotational degrees of freedom which are expected as most empirical and analytical data are for translational degrees of freedom. The case study also reveals that the relative difference between the numerical simulations and the experimental results are similar to the relative difference between the proposed method and the experiment.