Surface Effect Ship with Four Air Cushions Part I: Dynamic Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

This paper deals with dynamic modelling and numerical simulations of a Surface Effect Ship (SES) with split cushion. Traditionally, a SES is a catamaran with front and aft seals equipped with lift fans that could fill an air cushion with pressurized air to lift up to 90 % weight of the vehicle. A new SES concept is designed by UMOE Mandal AS that consists of four air chambers, each one equipped with variable vent valves, through which cushion pressures can be controlled by adjusting the air out-flow from the cushion. The new design makes it possible to actively regulate the motion of the SES in all degrees of freedom but surge. In this paper, we develop a dynamic model of the four cushion SES. Furthermore, we present a high fidelity numerical simulator that can effectively simulates the dynamics of the vessel. A companion paper (Haukeland, Hassani, and Auestad 2019) studies the performance of the control system through numerical simulation using the presented high fidelity model of SES subject to waves.