Unmanned Mine-Cleaning Underwater Vehicle Numerical Drag Prediction / Numeryczna Prognoza Charakterystyki Oporowej Bezzałogowego, Przeciwminowego Pojazdu Podwodnego

Abstract

Abstract At the beginning of the XXI century unmanned underwater vehicles such as ROV or AUV became common in use around the world. They are useful, practical and helpful in many underwater works. Moreover, in many cases they can be a good replacement for men. But to secure good man-machine cooperation or substitution high reliability is required as well as safety in everyday use - especially in the Navy. Therefore, beyond functionality, these two main factors are the most important in designing and then operating such vehicles. It can be achieved in many different ways, but one of the most sensitive and prone to damage elements is vehicle propulsion system. Commonly in use bare propellers are in danger of being damaged by many different things floating under the surface. To try to avoid such situation and find an alternative solution, there was an idea to design and build the ROV powered by a waterjet drive. This paper focuses on numerical drag prediction for underwater vehicle with two different propulsion systems. The pros and cons for each solution are also presented.