Hydrodynamic Body With Dynamic Wings for Sailing Hull Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of maintaining a hydrodynamic body adhered to a ship's hull during sailing is exacerbated by dynamic forces such as waves and underwater currents, leading to detachment and sliding, which complicates tasks like ship cleaning and biofouling prevention.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing mechanical fingers and dynamic wings, controlled by sensors and a controller, manipulates water currents to maintain adhesion and stability of the hydrodynamic body on the ship's hull, employing wheels and motors for movement, and adjusting angles and frequencies to counteract forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the hydrodynamic body is allowed to move along the ship's hull during sailing, then cleaning efficiency and biofouling prevention are improved, but detachment and sliding of the body from the hull occur due to lift and drag forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic wings that can adjust their angle relative to the water flow, transforming from a static attachment system to a dynamic one. The wings change their configuration based on operating conditions (speed, depth, flow rate), allowing the body to maintain stable attachment while moving along the hull during sailing operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes physical parameters of the water flow by using the dynamic wings to create suction forces. By adjusting the wing angle and position, the system modifies the local flow parameters (velocity, pressure, direction) to generate sufficient suction force that maintains attachment stability even when the body is moving along the hull at sailing speeds
2Reliability
If mechanical fingers are used to prevent detachment, then attachment stability is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex mechanical finger system from the overall design and replaces it with a hydrodynamic solution using dynamic wings. Instead of adding mechanical components to grip or clamp the hull, the system uses fluid dynamics principles to create suction forces that naturally prevent detachment, thereby maintaining reliability while reducing mechanical complexity
3Ease of operation
If the body adheres to the hull during sailing, then cleaning and inspection tasks are enabled, but the forces from waves and currents make movement control difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors that continuously monitor operating conditions (water flow rate, attachment force, position) and provide feedback to the control system. This feedback loop allows the dynamic wings to adjust their angle and position in real-time, counteracting the variable forces from waves and currents, thereby enabling easy control of movement along the hull despite the challenging hydrodynamic environment
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the hydrodynamic body to move along the ship's hull without detachment, facilitating efficient cleaning and preventing biofouling, even during sailing, by optimizing adhesion and stability through controlled mechanical and hydrodynamic interactions.
Implementation Method 1
manipulating water currents around the body... dynamic wings which are located at the sides of the hydrodynamic body and which deploy and/or open in different directions and angles... the dynamic wings provide a stability system to the hydrodynamic body, by changing the torque balance according to the opening angle of the dynamic wings
Implementation Method 2
the mechanical fingers cope with situations where momentary extreme forces operate on the hydrodynamic body and prevent the detachment of the hydrodynamic body from the ship's hull... when the mechanical fingers open and close at a fluttering movement at a certain frequency a lift force reducing adhesion of the hydrodynamic body to the ship is created
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for controlling forces applied on a hydrodynamic body adhered to and moving along a hull of a sailing ship, the hydrodynamic body comprises at least two wheels, enabling the hydrodynamic body to move along the hull of the ship. The system comprising: at least two mechanical fingers preventing detachment of the hydrodynamic body from the ship, at least two dynamic wings located at each side of the hydrodynamic body, adding stabilization to the hydrodynamic body, an array of sensors and a controller receiving input from the array of sensors controlling and monitoring the state of the mechanical fingers and dynamic wings and the hydrodynamic body's adhesion status, and providing instructions to each mechanical finger and dynamic wing to open to a desired position to increase or reduce adhesion of the hydrodynamic body to the ship, thereby optimizing the adhesion and stability of the hydrodynamic body.