Development and validation of a conceptual design program for unmanned underwater vehicles

Abstract

With a renewed focus on the Asia-Pacific region, the United States Navy will increasingly rely on high-endurance unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to support successful operations in a challenging threat environment. Undoubtedly, this naval strategy will necessitate versatile UUV systems that fulfill a broad spectrum of customer-generated requirements. This thesis presents a unique approach to the conceptual design process for UUVs, thereby allowing strategic decision-makers to rapidly explore a given design space. The proposed MATLAB-based conceptual design program features five primary modules: a mission module, a hull module, a resistance module, a battery module, and a pressure vessel module. The final concept design results from an iterative process that considers the displacement, interior volume, and exterior volume of the total UUV system. To validate the proposed design algorithm, the author applied the best practices of modern naval architecture, marine engineering, ocean engineering, systems engineering, and submersible design. Model test data and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software were used to validate the empirical equations selected for the resistance module. The pressure vessel module, including a genetic algorithm to generate viable scantlings, was validated by a consideration of manually optimized pressure vessel designs. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates the sufficiency, reliability, and versatility of the proposed conceptual design program for UUVs.