• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.343-350
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• 2017

Underwater glider with a single buoyancy engine could generally obtain propulsive forces by moving the center of buoyancy and gravity. Futhermore, The hull and internal structure of underwater glider are designed according to the purpose of long-time operation, high speed and a wide variety of payloads (sensors, communications and etc.). In this paper, Ray-type underwater glider featuring flatfish is considered in view of hydrodynamics. The hull design is especially performed by the analysis of fluid resistance and dynamic performance. The resistance performance is analyzed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). In addition, a simulation program is implemented in order to verify the validity of dynamics modeling and dynamic performances.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.537-543
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• 2017

Underwater glider is the long-term operating underwater robot that was developed with a purpose of continuous oceanographic observations and explorations. Torpedo-type underwater glider is not efficient from an aspect of maneuverability, because it uses a single buoyancy engine and motion controller for obtaining propulsive forces and moments. This paper introduces a ray-type underwater glider(RUG) with dual buoyancy engine, which improves the control performance of buoyancy and motion compared with torpedo-type underwater glider. Carrying out Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis as static pitch drift test, the performance of fluid resistance for gliding motion was identified. Based on the calculated hydrodynamic coefficients, the dynamic simulation compared and analyzed the motion performance of torpedo-type and ray-type while controlling same volume of buoyancy engine. Small-sized model of RUG was developed to perform fundamental performance tests.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.892-901
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• 2020

We used a numerical method to estimate the hydrodynamic maneuvering derivatives for the heave-pitch coupling motion of an underwater glider. It is very important to assess the hydrodynamic maneuvering characteristics of a specific hull form of an underwater glider in the initial design stages. Although model tests are the best way to obtain the derivatives, numerical methods such as the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method are used to save time and cost. The RANS method is widely used to estimate the maneuvering performance of surface-piercing marine vehicles, such as tankers and container ships. However, it is rarely applied to evaluate the maneuvering performance of underwater vehicles such as gliders. This paper presents numerical studies for typical experiments such as static drift and Planar Motion Mechanism (PMM) to estimate the hydrodynamic maneuvering derivatives for a Ray-type Underwater Glider (RUG). A validation study was first performed on a manta-type Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV), and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results were compared with a model test that was conducted at the Circular Water Channel (CWC) in Korea Maritime and Ocean University. Two different RANS solvers were used (Star-CCM+ and OpenFOAM), and the results were compared. The RUG's derivatives with both static drift and dynamic PMM (pure heave and pure pitch) are presented.