Research on Structural Principle and Hydrodynamic Performance of Double-Hull Hybrid Powered Underwater Glider

Abstract

Although the hybrid powered underwater glider has the advantages of both typical underwater gliders and traditional vehicles, it also has disadvantages such as high energy consumption and inconvenient recovery. In the rapid propulsion mode, the existence of wings not only increases navigation resistance and reduces navigation stability but also is not conducive to the recovery and deployment of gliders. In view of this, a dual-hull hybrid powered underwater glider was proposed. The wings of the glider can be retracted according to the actual needs, which is different from the traditional fixed horizontal wing, so as to realize the reasonable distribution of energy and improve the comprehensive navigation performance of underwater gliders. In addition, the working mode, system composition, and wing retracting principle of the glider were introduced in detail, and a worm gear and worm glide wings retracting device was designed. The corresponding retracting mechanism was established. On this basis, the hydrodynamic performance of the wings was analyzed by numerical simulation method, and a reasonable shipborne configuration scheme was obtained.

Keywords

• underwater glider
• double-hull
• hybrid powered
• gliding wing
• hydrodynamic performance