Estimation of the hydrodynamic coefficients of the complex-shaped autonomous underwater vehicle TUNA-SAND

Hydrodynamic coefficients strongly affect the dynamic performance of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Thus it is important to have the true values of the coefficients in order to simulate the AUV’s dynamic performance accurately. Although these coefficients can be predicted by many methods, most are only applicable for AUVs with streamlined shapes. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be applied to estimate the hydrodynamic coefficients of AUVs with complex shapes. In this study, CFD was applied to estimate the hydrodynamic coefficients of the AUV TUNA-SAND (which stands for terrain-based underwater navigable AUV for seafloor and natural resources development), which has a complex block-like structure. First, the validity of the CFD simulation was verified by comparison with experimental results. Second, the relationships between hydrodynamic loads and motions for all six degrees of freedom were analyzed using the simulated results. Third, the importance of each hydrodynamic coefficient was investigated based on these relationships. There are 16 key damping coefficients that relate to viscosity and 12 key inertial coefficients that relate to the potential flow around TUNA-SAND. Finally, the values of all the key coefficients were obtained and verified by comparing the solutions of the simulated dynamics with the experimental results.