Landing Craft Cooling System With Stern And Bow Inlets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Landing craft face cooling challenges during amphibious operations on beaches due to low water depth and high sand suspension, leading to insufficient cooling of engines, especially when running aground or navigating in heavy swells.
Innovation Solution
A cooling system with stern and bow seawater inlets, equipped with valves and suction means, and additional features like grilles in waterjet conduits to prevent sand and stone ingress, along with a wave compensation tank at the stern to maintain engine cooling during beach operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single stern water inlet is used for cooling, then the cooling system is simple, but insufficient cooling occurs when the craft runs aground or navigates in heavy swells
Solution Approach 1:
The single stern water inlet is divided into multiple separate inlets (first stern water inlet and second stern water inlet) positioned at different locations. This segmentation ensures that at least one inlet remains functional during beach operations or heavy swell conditions, thereby improving cooling reliability without significantly increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Different stern water inlets are positioned at specific locations optimized for different operational conditions. The first stern water inlet is positioned for normal operations while the second is positioned to remain functional during beach operations or heavy swells, allowing the system to adapt to local environmental conditions
2Power
If high propulsion power is installed to achieve high speed and high manoeuvrability, then the craft performance is improved, but the cooling flow rate requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system transitions from relying solely on stern inlets (single dimension) to incorporating both stern and bow inlets (multiple dimensions). This dimensional expansion allows the system to maintain high cooling flow rates required for high propulsion power by utilizing water intake from multiple locations simultaneously
3Reliability
If water inlets are positioned on the lower part of the hull for water cooling, then effective cooling is achieved, but sand and stones are sucked into the propeller shafts during beach operations
Solution Approach 1:
The water intake system is segmented into multiple inlets positioned at different locations (stern and bow). This segmentation allows the system to select inlets that provide effective cooling while minimizing sand and stone ingestion, particularly during beach operations
Solution Approach 2:
Grilles are introduced as intermediary elements in the waterjet conduits to filter out sand and stones before they can reach the propeller shafts, while still allowing water to pass through for cooling purposes
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
Ensures continuous and effective cooling of engines even in challenging beach conditions, minimizing engine shutdowns and allowing safe operation across various operational scenarios.
Implementation Method 1
cooling liquid circulation conduits... circulating the coolant around the engine
Implementation Method 2
a first heat exchanger connected to the conduits and disposed such as to allow the passage of air through the air inlet by means of the first exchanger to cool the coolant circulating around the engine
Implementation Method 3
a second heat exchanger connected to the conduits and disposed such as to allow the passage of external water through the water inlet from the exterior of the hull towards the interior thereof and from there through the second exchanger to cool the coolant
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
A cooling system for landing craft (1), which cools at least one propulsion engine (4) of the landing craft (1) and that comprises a series of cooling liquid circulation conduits (5) and at least one pump (6), and which additionally comprises: - at least one stern cooling liquid inlet (7), disposed on the stern (2) of the landing craft (1), - at least one bow cooling liquid inlet (8), disposed on each side (3, 3') of the landing craft (1), and - at least one valve (9) that enables the passage of the cooling liquid from at least one stern inlet (7), from at least one bow inlet (8) or from at least one stern inlet (7) and at least one bow inlet (8) simultaneously.