ANALYSIS COMPUTER PROGRAM

THE INTENTION IS TO DEVELOP A NUMERICAL METHOD TO ASSESS THE SEAKEEPING CHARACTERISTICS OF A SURFACE-EFFECT SHIP (SES). THIS WOULD RESULT IN A COMPUTER PROGRAM WHICH PROPERLY CONSIDERS THE UNIQUE COMPLEXITIES OF AN SES. THE COMPLEXITIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, THE HYDRODYNAMICS, THE AERODYNAMICS, THE CRAFT LAYOUT AND SEALS, FAN DYNAMICS AND HEAVE ATTENUATION DEVICES. THE HYDRODYNAMIC PROBLEM WILL BE CONSIDERED USING A LINEARIZED TIME-DOMAIN FORMULATION OF THE NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR OF THE VEHICLE DURING HEAVE, PITCH AND ROLL MOTIONS OVER INCOMING WAVES. WAVE EFFECTS GENERATED BY THE APPLIED PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AS WELL AS THE SIDEWALLS WILL BE CONSIDERED. AIR COMPRESSIBILITY WILL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY CALCULATING THE CHANGE IN DENSITY DUE TO THE CHANGE IN PRESSURE USING AN ADIABATIC ISOTROPIC RELATIONSHIP. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM WILL BE GENERAL SUCH THAT ANY FORM OF SES MAY BE CONSIDERED. FAN DYNAMICS WILL BE INCLUDED USING A QUADRATIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRESSURE AND VOLUME FLOW. HEAVE ATTENUATION DEVICES (VENT VALVE OR VARIABLE-INLET-GUIDE VANE TYPE) WILL BE CONSIDERED BY CHANGING THE APPLIED PRESSURE OR FAN PRESSURE FLOW CURVES. THE PRODUCT OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE THE SPECIFICATIONS OF A COMPUTER PROGRAM CAPABLE OF ACCURATELY PREDICTING HEAVE, PITCH AND ROLL DISPLACEMENTS, VELOCITIES AND ACCELERATIONS OF ANY SES.