USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Dana Colegrove

David M Pickett

Stephen Paul Ebner

Christopher M Nunes

John A Sterling

Alexander Tsarev

Daniel Richard Nashold

Michael George Hanback

Paul Michael Strano

The invention is directed to a towing adaptation system for optimizing the pitch attitude, hydrodynamic lift and drag forces on an underwater acoustic vessel. The towing adaptation system an underwater vessel to which is attached a first adapter plate and a second adapter plate, with each adapter plate having a plurality of vertically displaced staged attachment points. Corresponding attachment points of the first and second adapter plates form attachment pairs, with each attachment pair calibrated to provide a desired cable angle, hydrodynamic lift, and drag force, at a predetermined steady-state speed, for optimizing performance.

Underwater vessel assembly having tow point adapter plates for performance optimization

A typical inventive device is self-contained and is designed for adjunctive placement at the unconnected end of a towed body in order to test dynamic motions of the towed body. The inventive device includes an IMU, a computer, wired/wireless communication electronics, a fluid-dynamically shaped member, and a cylindrical housing (which encloses the IMU, the computer, and the communication electronics). The housing is connected to the towed body aft of the towed body, and the shaped member is connected to the housing aft of the housing. Data is acquired that is indicative of the inertial dynamics of the towed body while in motion through a fluidic medium. Differently shaped members can be independently connected to the housing at different times, each influencing in its own way the inertial dynamics of the towed body and yielding its own set of data. Comparisons can thus be drawn between/among differently shaped members.

Inertial dynamics measurement and structural configuration variation for hydrodynamic stability evaluation of a towed body

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Fairfax Station, VA, United States of America

Dana Colegrove