Control of radiated acoustic noise is vital to the survivability and the detectability of submersible watercraft. Two primary sources of radiated fluid noise in submersible vessels are the boundary layer turbulence along the forebody and propulsor fluid-structure interaction. The propulsor contains several locations of such interaction, one of which was investigated in this research. Specifically, this research focused on experimentally investigating active flow control techniques to reduce rotor-stator interaction noise sources. Two of the three flow control configurations applied to the flow involved the application of active flow control to the leading edge of a single exit guide vane (EGV) mounted downstream of a seven-bladed rotor. The leading edge blowing configuration (LEB) consisted of a single jet expelled from the leading edge of the EGV against the oncoming flow. This interaction between the wake and jet should offset or disrupt the coherency of any incoming flow structures. The second active flow control method applied to the EGV involved a tangential blowing configuration (TB) where two symmetric tangential jets were used to create an insulating fluid layer that reduced the effect of passing flow structures on the EGV. The final flow control design was the implementation of trailing edge wake filling on a three bladed rotor. A rotor was designed to ingest lower velocity flow from the hub and pump the fluid out of a blowing slot at the blade trailing edge. The blowing slot was concentrated on the outer third of the blade span in order to maximize pumping effect. In order to quantify the effects of the active flow control techniques on rotor-stator interaction, the fluctuating lift force on the EGV was measured. Since this fluctuating force serves as a primary acoustic source, the effects of the active flow control on the radiated interaction sound can be estimated. These active flow control techniques were intended for reduction of blade passing frequency tonal sound radiation. The LEB configuration showed minor changes in overall spectral response; however, there was no significant reduction in forcing at the BPF measured. Similarly the TB configuration also yielded no measurable change in BPF tonal forcing. The first generation design of the self-pumping rotor also proved to have problems. Experiments showed that the application of the flow control on the self-pumping rotor did not generate the expected increase in torque demand or changes in the tonal forcing on the EGV. Field alterations to the rotor were unable to improve the performance; therefore, the conclusion became that the initial design was unable to pump fluid due to excessive pressure losses. Further design iterations are required to perfect the functionality of the self-pumping rotor. / Master of Science

O presente trabalho aborda análises de sistemas de propulsão e manobra para comboios fluviais, e seus efeitos na manobrabilidade dos comboios. Analisam-se o sistema de propulsão convencional (propulsor mais leme), o sistema azimutal e o equipamento de proa auxiliar combinado com cada um destes sistemas de propulsão. Apresenta-se a modelagem matemática dos sistemas de propulsão e manobra citados, os quais serviram de base para implementação de um simulador computacional utilizado para obtenção dos resultados desta dissertação. As forças e momentos hidrodinâmicos são obtidos através do método das derivadas hidrodinâmicas para as simulações próximas à velocidade de serviço do comboio, enquanto para simulações em baixa velocidade utilizou um método semi-empírico baseado no princípio de cross-flow. Inicialmente, efetuou-se a validação do simulador com resultados da literatura para o caso do comboio com propulsão convencional. Em seguida, o modelo foi adaptado para os demais tipos de sistemas de propulsão e manobra propostos. Os resultados obtidos mostram que há uma maior eficiência do sistema de propulsão azimutal e do equipamento na proa para manobras em baixas velocidades, o que se torna adequado sua aplicação em comboios fluvial, pois essas embarcações navegam em velocidades menores se comparadas a outros tipos de embarcações. / The present work deal with analysis of propulsion and maneuvering systems for pusher-barge system, and results on the maneuverability of convoys. It analyzes the conventional propulsion system (rudder plus propeller), the azimuth system and combined auxiliary equipment bow with each of these propulsion systems. Presents the mathematical modeling of propulsion and maneuvering systems mentioned, which served as the basis for implementation of a computational simulator used to obtain the results of this dissertation. The hydrodynamic forces and moments are obtained by the method of hydrodynamic derivatives for simulations about service speed, while for simulations at low speed used a semi - empirical method based on the principle of cross-flow. Initially, performed the validation of the simulation results with the literature for the case of pusher-barge system with conventional propulsion. Then the model was adapted to other types of propulsion and maneuvering systems proposed. The results show that there is a greater efficiency of azimuth propulsion system and equipment in the bow to maneuver at low speeds, which makes it suitable for application in river transport, because these vessels navigate slower speeds compared to other types of vessels.

O presente trabalho aborda análises de sistemas de propulsão e manobra para comboios fluviais, e seus efeitos na manobrabilidade dos comboios. Analisam-se o sistema de propulsão convencional (propulsor mais leme), o sistema azimutal e o equipamento de proa auxiliar combinado com cada um destes sistemas de propulsão. Apresenta-se a modelagem matemática dos sistemas de propulsão e manobra citados, os quais serviram de base para implementação de um simulador computacional utilizado para obtenção dos resultados desta dissertação. As forças e momentos hidrodinâmicos são obtidos através do método das derivadas hidrodinâmicas para as simulações próximas à velocidade de serviço do comboio, enquanto para simulações em baixa velocidade utilizou um método semi-empírico baseado no princípio de cross-flow. Inicialmente, efetuou-se a validação do simulador com resultados da literatura para o caso do comboio com propulsão convencional. Em seguida, o modelo foi adaptado para os demais tipos de sistemas de propulsão e manobra propostos. Os resultados obtidos mostram que há uma maior eficiência do sistema de propulsão azimutal e do equipamento na proa para manobras em baixas velocidades, o que se torna adequado sua aplicação em comboios fluvial, pois essas embarcações navegam em velocidades menores se comparadas a outros tipos de embarcações. / The present work deal with analysis of propulsion and maneuvering systems for pusher-barge system, and results on the maneuverability of convoys. It analyzes the conventional propulsion system (rudder plus propeller), the azimuth system and combined auxiliary equipment bow with each of these propulsion systems. Presents the mathematical modeling of propulsion and maneuvering systems mentioned, which served as the basis for implementation of a computational simulator used to obtain the results of this dissertation. The hydrodynamic forces and moments are obtained by the method of hydrodynamic derivatives for simulations about service speed, while for simulations at low speed used a semi - empirical method based on the principle of cross-flow. Initially, performed the validation of the simulation results with the literature for the case of pusher-barge system with conventional propulsion. Then the model was adapted to other types of propulsion and maneuvering systems proposed. The results show that there is a greater efficiency of azimuth propulsion system and equipment in the bow to maneuver at low speeds, which makes it suitable for application in river transport, because these vessels navigate slower speeds compared to other types of vessels.

A wind tunnel investigation of an axisymmetric bluff body, known as a Goldschmied propulsor, was completed. This model conceptually combines boundary layer control and boundary layer ingestion into a single complementary system that is intended to use energy to reduce the axial force on the body by eliminating separation and increasing the pressure recovery aft of the body’s maximum thickness. The goal of the current project was to design, fabricate, and fully document the performance of a wind tunnel model incorporating the Goldschmied propulsor concept and complete an examination of its aerodynamic performance. The investigation took place at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in the Aerospace Engineering Department’s subsonic 3ft by 4ft wind tunnel. The model is 38.5 inches in length and 13.5 inches in diameter with a discrete suction slot at 85% of the body length and an embedded propulsor that provides the suction flow, expelling it out of the model’s aft end. The experiment included measurements of surface pressure, total axial force, suction mass flow rate, fan thrust, fan torque, fan speed, and input fan power. The size of the suction slot and amount of input fan power were the main test variables in the 54 data point test matrix that was completed at a length Reynolds number of 1.34 million and a tunnel speed of 66 ft/s (20 m/s). The model was able to achieve fully attached flow on the aftbody with as little as 100W of input power and a net positive (forward) axial force coefficient of 0.12 with as little as 200W of input power. The model was also able to achieve a peak axial pressure force coefficient of 0.005 in the forward direction with an input power of 500W and a slot gap of 1.6% of the body length. A slightly lower axial pressure force coefficient of 0.0045 was achieved with only 200W of input power and a slot gap of 0.7% of the body length. The peak axial pressure force for most tested slot gaps occurred at about 200W of input power, and a slot gap of 0.7% of the body length resulted in the best overall performance for most input power settings. Two different suction slot configurations, a simple gap and a cusp, were tested, and no significant performance differences were seen between them. The pressure coefficient data showed similar trends as test data from 1956 of a similar model at higher Reynolds number, but it did not show complete agreement. Despite these positive aspects of the investigation, a simple power based comparison between the collected data and a conventional non-integrated propulsor does not show a performance improvement for the Goldschmied propulsor.