Seminar, Feb 3 at noon: Design and Hydrodynamic Optimization of a New Family of Hybrid-Swath Unmanned Surface Vehicles by Stefano Brizzolara, University of Genoa

THE MIT CENTER FOR OCEAN ENGINEERING AND MIT SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM PRESENTDESIGN AND HYDRODYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION OF A NEW FAMILY OF HYBRID-SWATH UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLESSTEFANO BRIZZOLARA, Marine CFD Group, University of GenoaThursday, February, 3, 12:00 noon ¤ 1:00Reception: 1:00-1:30 PM MIT Building 5, Room 314Seminar AbstractThe general design and hydrodynamic study and optimization of two novel types of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) based on Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) forms, with unconventional shape, optimized for reducing resistance at high speed, in combination with hydrofoils. One is a small (6m long) vessel devised with NURC (the NATO Undersea Research Center) for the autonomous launch and recovery of UUV in coastal area; the other is a medium sized (20m long) superfast (120 knots) vehicle for immediate offshore search and rescue operation, currently under study for the Office of Naval Research (ONR).Although the two USVs are different in size and operational speeds, the idea behind the hull definition derives from the same unconventional SWATH family of hulls, developed by the author, able to minimize the total resistance and obtain favourable propulsive power at relatively high speeds. For both vessels, in fact, a computer based parametric optimization procedure has been developed to automatically find the best hull forms for the given design speed (or speed profile) and Reynolds-averaged Navier¤Stokes (RANS) calculations performed to study the main hydrodynamic components and validate the final design.The superfast USV has two modes of operation: a hull-born (displacement) mode for slow/medium speeds and a foil-born mode, where it converts into a super-cavitating hydrofoil. Issues related to the peculiar super-cavitating hydrofoils design and optimization aspects will be addressed.STEFANO BRIZZOLARA is a Professor in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine and Electrical Engineering at the University of Genoa (Italy). The focus of his research is the intelligent integration and application of CFD tools for the design of innovative unconventional high speed hull forms and propulsion devices. He founded and currently coordinates the Marine CFD Group, a research team devoted to the development, application and validation of CFD methods for Marine hydrodynamics, ranging from BEM, RANSE and SPH methods. He is the author of more than 70 scientific papers, presented at international conferences and journals. His professional experience includes service in the Italian Navy which included a period spent at the cavitation tunnel of the Italian Navy in Rome; responsibility for experimental research on propellers and hydrofoils; four years in the hydrodynamic design office of Fincantieri Navy Ship Division (Genoa, Italy); designing navy ships, monohull fast ferries (parent hulls to the newest LCS of US Navy) and navy propellers. He graduated in 1994 with honors in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Genoa received a PhD in Naval Architecture on Numerical methods from the University of Naples Federico II in a joint course with the University of Genoa.