There is at present great interest in large ships capable of carrying substantial cargo at speeds in excess of 40 knots. At the same time, there are large gaps in our understanding of the hydrodynamics, structural engineering, and economics of high-speed vessels. Monohulls, catamarans, trimarans, surface effect ships, and air cushion vehicles are considered in the present work. The total resistance of these vehicles is divided into separate components which are estimated using different methods. Skin-friction is estimated using Grigson's algorithm which gives much better predictions of flat plate skin-friction than the traditional ITTC method. Wave resistance of displacement hulls is estimated using Michell's thin-ship theory: a similar theory is used for the wave resistance of travelling pressure distributions. Several simple formulae are derived that can be used in the preliminary design stage of catamarans to estimate optimum demihull separation. Memetic algorithm techniques are used to find vessels with minimum (calm-water) total resistance. Optimal geometric parameters are found for vessels of 1200 tonnes under a variety of geometric limitations and constraints on upright stability, at design speeds of 50 knots and 75 knots. Estimates are made of the principal weight components of the optimal vessels. Empirical formulae for the efficiencies of powerplants and propulsors then enable estimates to be made of the maximum range, the cargo capacity, and the fuel consumption. / Thesis (M.Sc.)--School of Mathematical Sciences, 2005.

This interdisciplinary research project combines the fields of nautical archaeology and computer visualization to create an interactive virtual reconstruction of the 1606 Portuguese vessel Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, also known as the Pepper Wreck. Using reconstruction information provided by Dr. Filipe Castro (Texas A&M Department of Anthropology), a detailed 3D computer model of the ship was constructed and filled with cargo to demonstrate how the ship might have been loaded on the return voyage from India. The models are realistically shaded, lighted, and placed into an appropriate virtual environment. The scene can be viewed using the real-time immersive and interactive system developed by Dr. Frederic Parke (Texas A&M Department of Visualization). The process developed to convert the available information and data into a reconstructed 3D model is documented. This documentation allows future projects to adapt this process for other archaeological visualizations, as well as informs archaeologists about the type of data most useful for computer visualizations of this kind.

It can be a real challenge to construct the ambient noise modeling among the harbors of very frequent shipping. Therefore, in these harbors, a great amount of resource has to be utilized for precisely control the ambient noise occurring parameters. In this study, the underwater measuring skill is adapted to collect the ambient noise raw data among the first harbor area of Kaohsiung Harbor and the sound intensity of various ships as well. Besides, the signal processing skill is also conducted for ship tracing experiment. The harbor ambient noise mainly comes from ships. Thus, the understanding of ship activity and their different sound intensity can be a great help to construct the ambient noise modeling. The results of this study indicate¡GShips outside the harbor create more low-frequency noise than those inside the harbor.Waves inside the harbor create more middle-frequency noise than those outside the harbor.In the harbor, those ships with onboard electricity create more noise and there is less noise around the wharfs without any ships. In the part of ship noise study, the intensity is usually correlated with ship types, displacement, ship speed, primary engine and auxiliary engine, etc. However, only two ship types, small and large ships, are categorized in this study. Small ships can be operated easily with the most power outcome, which can create the sound intensity of 155 to 165 dB in average. On the contrary, large ships are usually limited within their operating range and can not move with the most power outcome under the security consideration. Therefore, the sound intensity of large ships is measured between 169 to 177 dB. In the ship tracing experiment, operations are the basis for constructing the harbor ambient noise model.

The Port of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel (HSC) are highly industrialized areas along Galveston Bay, Texas. The HSC is highly polluted with a host of persistent organic pollutants, including dioxins. The main objective of this study was to determine the potential for in situ bioremediation in the HSC sediments. Our study focused on the bacterial group Dehalococcoides, since it is the only known group to reductively dechlorinate dioxins. Culture independent methods were used to determine the presence or absence of Dehalococcoides in HSC sediments. Molecular methods including PCR, cloning, restriction enzyme digest, and sequencing were used to determine the diversity of Dehalococcoides as well as total bacterial diversity in HSC sediments. The metabolically active members of the microbial community in HSC sediments were also determined using the same molecular methods as described above. Dehalococcoides was detected in every sediment core and at various depths within each core. Depths ranged from 1cm (SG-6) to 30cm (11261). Dehalococcoides diversity was centered on Dehalococcoides ethenogenes strain 195 and Dehalococcoides sp. strain CBDB1. Overall bacterial diversity in HSC sediments was dominated by Proteobacteria, especially Deltaproteobacteria, and Chloroflexi, which include Dehalococcoides. Total bacterial diversity at a wetlands control site was dominated by Betaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria. Deltaproteobacteria and Chloroflexi were determined to be the major metabolically active groups within the HSC sediments. These findings indicate that the HSC sediments have great potential for successful in situ bioremediation. These results also support the use of Dehalococcoides as a biological proxy for dioxin contamination.

In this research the stochastic nonlinear dynamic behaviors and probability density function of ship rolling are studied by nonlinear dynamic method and probability theory. The probability density function of rolling response is evaluated through solving the stochastic differential equations by using path integral method based on Gauss-Legendre interpolation scheme. The time-dependent probability of ship rolling restricted within the safe domain is provided and capsizing is investigated in the probability‟s view. The random differential equation of ships‟ rolling motion is established considering the nonlinear damping, nonlinear restoring moment, the white noise wave excitation, and the colored noise wave excitation. As an example, an ocean survey vessel T-AGOS is considered to sail in the seas of Pierson-Moskowitz wave spectrum. It is found that the probability decreases as time progresses and it decreases much more quickly for the high intensity of the noise. The ship will finally leave the safe domain and capsize in the probability‟s view. It is also shown the similarity of probability density contours between the case of white noise wave excitation and the case of colored noise wave excitation.

The interpretation of 3D seismic data from Ship Shoal South Addition Blocks 349-358, Gulf of Mexico shows a complex interaction between salt, faults, and sedimentary strata. Reconstruction of the geometry of early Pliestocene (about 3.65 Ma) through recent salt and associated sediments reveals the evolution of a supralobal basin in the study area. The basin depocenter shifted from the northeastern part to the center of the study area through time. A small, bulb-shaped, salt-stock structure occurs in the northwest, and a salt sheet structure is present in the southeastern part of the study area. Those structures are part of a pennant-shaped structure bounded by counter regional faults trending northeastward. Salt movements created instability and triggered extensive faulting of the overlying strata. Three-dimensional reconstruction suggests that salt blocked the sediment during the early Pleistocene. The sediment was diverted around the salt high on both east and west sides of the salt body to the southwest and southeast. Stratigraphic interpretation of the interval between 1.35 Ma and 1.95 Ma led to the identification of a highstand systems tract (HST), a transgressive systems tract(TST), and two lowstand systems tracts (LST). The strata are developed normally in the depocenter area, whereas the strata at the basin margin were deformed by salt movement and faulting. Each systems tract is uniquely associated with a certain seismic facies. Three seismic facies were identified associated with LST, TST, and HST. Additionally, seismic sections reveal channel geometries in the LST. Seismic attribute analysis elucidates facies distribution in the systems tracts. Because of its ability to move, to divert sediment, to create instability, and to block sediment transport pathways, salt exercises the main control on the sedimentary processes in the study area.

This interdisciplinary research project combines the fields of nautical archaeology and computer visualization to create an interactive virtual reconstruction of the 1606 Portuguese vessel Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, also known as the Pepper Wreck. Using reconstruction information provided by Dr. Filipe Castro (Texas A&M Department of Anthropology), a detailed 3D computer model of the ship was constructed and filled with cargo to demonstrate how the ship might have been loaded on the return voyage from India. The models are realistically shaded, lighted, and placed into an appropriate virtual environment. The scene can be viewed using the real-time immersive and interactive system developed by Dr. Frederic Parke (Texas A&M Department of Visualization). The process developed to convert the available information and data into a reconstructed 3D model is documented. This documentation allows future projects to adapt this process for other archaeological visualizations, as well as informs archaeologists about the type of data most useful for computer visualizations of this kind.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-230). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Monique P. Fargues, Russell Gottfried. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S. in Mechanical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Fotis Papoulias. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69). Also available online.