High pressure waterjet propulsion with thrust vector control system applied on underwater vehicles

Abstract

Maneuverability is one of the most important performances of underwater vehicles. To improve the maneuverability of underwater vehicles, a high-pressure waterjet propulsion system combined with a Thrust Vector Control System (TVCS) was presented, which controlled the sailing trajectory through adjusting the waterjet deflection angle and thrust vector instead of rudders and sterns. The TVCS was established in the form of 3RPS Parallel Manipulator and the position feedback was provided by measuring the displacements of three actuator cylinders. The relationship between the thrust direction and the displacements of the actuator cylinders was established through the procedure of solving an inverse kinematics problem. Simultaneously, the motion transformation function of the system was derived, and the Fuzzy-PID strategy was adopted. Accordingly, the Simulink model was built, and the simulation indicated that the system had good performance. In addition, the sailing trajectory was obtained, and the results showed that the turning diameter was 78 m, and it was independent of thrust and sailing speed. The underwater vehicle utilizing high-pressure water jet propulsion with TVCS had good maneuverability at either high or low speed conditions.