Towing tank

Description of carriage:

Single manned carriage with 8 wheel synchronous motor drive, 85,000 kg, 746 Kw power, 0.001 m/s – 10 m/s speed range. Test frame adjustable for model size. Manual wind carriage for wind generation. Wind carriage can be coupled to main carriage.

Wave generator:

Dual flap hydraulic wave board with digital computer control, program controlled regular or irregular waves. Maximum wave height of 1m for regular waves and 0.5m significant for irregular waves.

Wave absorber:

Parabolic corrugated surface beach with transverse slats, 20m long slope with 10.5 slope at the waterline, flexible side absorbers.

Wind generation:

8 fan bank, maximum wind speed of 10 m/s @ 10 m from fans.

Test equipment:

Planar Motion Mechanism (PMM), Marine Dynamics Test Facility (MDTF), Yacht Dynamometer, Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) apparatus, capacitance and sonic wave probes, Qualisys optical tracking for model position, propulsion control systems for free-running models, under and above water video (Line-scanning camera).

Data acquisition:

A VMS and Windows NT based distributed client/server system using one or more IOtech DaqBoards, each with 256 channel capability at 100kHz aggregate.

Model size range:

Ship models up to12m in length, floating structures 0.5m – 4 m in diameter.

Tests performed:

Resistance and propulsion, wake survey, flow visualization, propeller open water, seakeeping, manoeuvring (PMM), loads due to waves, wind and current on floating and moored structures, lift and drag, dynamics of underwater vehicles (MDTF).