PhD Studentship: Slamming impact loads on high speed craft made of aluminium and composites



Ref: CMEES-FSI-114
Research group: Fluid-Structure Interactions, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment
Deadline: Applications will be accepted at any time until the position is filled.

Slamming induced loads on high speed craft (displacement, semi-planing or planing) constitute a significant component of the operational loads, hence the design loads. The state-of-the-art in this subject area shows that there are gaps in the knowledge base, both experimentation and numerical modelling; hence, opportunities for original work, both in experimental and numerical modelling. There exist sets of experimental measurements, from two-dimensional (2D) drop tests, on rigid wedges and very few ship-like forms. There are also some predictions based on numerical models and comparisons with aforementioned measurements, indicating that even for the rigid case the agreement is rather patchy and requires improvement. There are very few experimental measurements involving 2D drop tests with simple elastic plates and fewer comparisons with numerical models capable of allowing for the local hydroelasticity effects. These, however, do not account for the local structural arrangement and its effects on induced slamming pressures and forces. This project is aimed at addressing these deficiencies, accounting both for material and structural arrangements.

The focus of the project is on integrating the hydrodynamic and structural modelling, both experimentally and numerically, for slamming of high speed craft with particular reference to composite structures and aluminium structures. The main objective is to provide accurate predictions of slamming pressures and forces, through 2D experimental (drop tests) and numerical (coupled CFD & FEA software) modelling. Comparisons will be made with full-scale measurements on fast craft in order to (a) investigate the constraints of 2D modelling with reference to full-scale measurements (b) test the accuracy of 2D numerical modelling against experimental and full-scale measurements and (c) establish the influence of local structural arrangements on obtained impact pressures and forces. The drop tests will be carried out using the University of Southampton’s drop test facility. The full-scale measurements will be provided by DSTL.

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If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof. P.Temarel in the Fluid Structure Interactions research group, Email: p.temarel@soton.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 3866.

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