Fundamental research on the maneuverability of the underwater vehicle having thrust vectoring system

This report aims to present maneuverability of an underwater vehicle with a thrust vectoring system. So far, the thrust vectoring system has been applied in the products of Bluefin Robotics, and its equipment makes possible to eliminate the protrude control fins. It is also capable of contributing the better maintenance and handling in actual operation. In this paper, at first, captive model tests and free running model tests in towing tank are extensively conducted for the model having thrust vectoring system, and then used mathematical model of the thrust vectoring inspired by the azimuthing propeller model of the surface ships is correlated. As a result, the tank test results show that although the thrust vectoring system in this research generates larger rudder forces at lower speed range, there exists the directional instability due to the low slenderness and the elimination of the aft control surface. In addition, the numerical consideration using an optimal control theory shows that the additional aft fins on the shroud of thrust vectoring system well contribute directional stability and controllability over a wide speed range.