Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112). / Over the past 20 years, underwater vehicle technology has undergone drastic improvements, and vehicles are quickly gaining popularity as a tool for numerous oceanographic tasks. Systems used on the vehicle to alter buoyancy, or variable buoyancy (VB) systems, have seen only minor improvements during the same time period. Though current VB systems are extremely robust, their lack of performance has become a hinderance to the advancement of vehicle capabilities. This thesis first explores the current status of VB systems, then creates a model of each system to determine performance. Second, in order to quantitatively compare fundamentally different VB systems, two metrics, [beta]m and [beta]vol, are developed and applied to current systems. By determining the ratio of performance to size, these metrics give engineers a tool to aid VB system development. Finally, the fundamental challenges in developing more advanced VB systems are explored, and a couple of technologies are investigated for their potential use in new systems. / by Harold Franklin Jensen III. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/58193 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Jensen, Harold Franklin |
| Contributors | Dana Yoerger., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution., Joint Program in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 112 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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