Literature Reviews
The first prototype of the hovercraft was first concocted as well as protected by the makeable English innovator Christopher Cockerel and the individual did this in 1952 (Amyot 2013). However, the developers of the later days and the recent days have continued to re-design as well as developed it to fit the current ground effects and rules (Dubowski et al. 2011). Moreover, the existing possibility that the equipment is in the position of catching the air existing between the ground and the fast moving vehicles tends to give the entire operations decreased drag as well as additional lift (BE 2013). Notably, the endeavors had restrictions in line with the achievements as well as the annual air pad and thus, have decisive difficulties up-to to date. In essence, the initial design works and the overall development of the hovercraft mainly conducted between 1950s –to-1960s and the idea emerged from the British.
In the recent days, the hovercrafts are used across the world grounded on their accurate transports nature in the misfortune alleviations. Furthermore, the equipment has also gained moment and wide range of utilizations in the military, coastguard as well as in various research studies and games (Amiruddin, Sapuan and Jaafar 2011 p.4185).
Notably, the large forms of the hovercraft vehicles are presently being utilized across the English channels to transport vehicles as well as individuals. Furthermore, other large equipment is also applied in the transportation of the tanks, expensive hardware and fighters in the situations and locations which have the antagonistic landscapes (Roubieu et al. 2014).
The literature works in line with the overall design and the development of the hovercraft mainly discussed in various subsections as per the indicated analysis below
First and foremost, it is important to note that the first proposed in line with the hovercraft design mainly conducted by the art exhibit. The display of the proposal mainly displayed and elaborated by the University of California. The department which was mandated is Beall Center for Art and Technology. The featured exhibitions in line with the prototype mainly termed as the Jed Berk’s Autonomous Light Air Vehicle (Detweiler, Griffin and Roehr 2012, October p. 786).
This process brought out different blimps in line with the social life forms as well as the intelligent. The exhibition concepts as far as the hovercrafts are concerned mainly grounded on computer science algorithms and sensor technology.
On the other hand, the detailed components and the prototype for the vehicle mainly illustrated and indicated as shown in the diagram below (Prabhu 2016).
Preferably, it is important to note that hovercraft termed initially originated and was being used as the nonexclusive element. However, the trademark mainly developed and possessed by the parametric Saunders-Roe (Haider and Sajjad 2012 p.24). On the other hand, there are different producers which have embarked on using the option names as the technique of portraying the vehicle (Tao and Chengjie 2012). There are different components of the hovercraft which one need to incorporate as well as consider in the design works and the development of the vehicles. Some of the components often elaborated and explained as indicated in the diagram below (Pedersen and Spirov 2015)
Initial Concept
Figure Showing the Various Components and Parts of Hovercraft (Hoverspill consortium 2014, May p. 649)
Preferably, the operating principle of the hovercraft mainly demarcates on its ability to cushion air by lifting the craft and the process hastened by the action of the propellers which propels the air around it (Roubieu et al. 2012, December p. 1311).
Hollebone (2012) reported that the idea on the operation mainly grounded on the air cushion developed which aims at increasing the overall speed of the boat. The process works in manner that it helps in feeding the air beneath the boat and thus, increasing the speed of the boat in the return. The role of the air beneath the hull is to assist in lubricating the surface as well as in reducing the water drag on the overall boat. This process aims at increasing the speed of the vehicle through the water (Kim et al. 2013 p. 380).
Moreover, the air is sucked into the system of the hovercraft via the port. The port is often fitted with the large and parametric lifting fans and this has to be done to conform to the primary craft structure. The powering of the fans system either utilizes the diesel or the gas turbines. The air is thereby pushed to the decisive crafts undersides. In the process, a portion of the air from the makeable lift fans often applied inflating the skirt (Munoz-Mansilla, Chaos, Aranda and Díaz 2012 p.2189).
On the other hand, the rest of the air ducted down. The ducting mainly occurs at the underneath of the craft and aims at filling the enclosed area of the skirt. Thus, the analysis of the propelling the air lifting in line with the operating principles mainly illustrated as indicated in the figure below (Cabecinhas, Batista, Oliveira and Silvestre 2018 p.796).
According to Thisdell (2012) the craft lifts up as well as allows the airs to escape from the system when the pressure exerts equals the weight of the designated craft. The escaping airs mainly takes place at the skirting edges. Notably, there is the need of the constant air flow to hasten the lifting of the craft as well as assist in compensating for the parametric losses. As the point in which the pressure and the craft weights are attained and the air is released from system, there is the lifting of the craft. It is important to note that the propulsion in the system mainly offered by the mounted propellers in the Hovercraft (Okafor 2013 p.276).
Moreover, there is the passing of the air from the overall propellers over the decisive rudders. The rudders essential role in the system is to assist in steering the craft. Thus, the propellers plays a vital role in propelling and controlling the powerful engines and thus, making the craft to fly (Bhateja, Singh, Singh and Kumar 2013).
According to Amiruddin, Sapuan and Jaafar (2011) attainment of the stability in the Hovercraft is not only important but also essential. Moreover, it is important to note the attainment of the stability in line with the cushion is an essential problem which one must consider and incorporate the real design efforts in line with the Hovercraft development (Richardson, Greene, Malme and Thomson 2013). Thus, different techniques are involved in harboring and curbing the effects of the stability in the hovercraft vehicles. In solving for the immense problems in line with the stability in the hovercraft, Sir Christopher Cockrell came up with the plenum chamber concept. He also incorporated the momentum curtains in developing for the resolution technique. In developing the solution, he conducted an experiment in which he proposed two cans as well as vacuum cleaner. First and foremost, Sir Christopher Cockrell drilled as well as bolted the cans (Garcia and White 2015).
Trademarks and Components
Moreover, one can was placed inside the other which had an opening at the edge. The opening was placed in a manner that it faced down in relation to the weighing scales applied. Notably, the top can applied as open and had a makeable tube connecting it and the aim of this was to allow air to be forced into the system.
Notably, control mechanism is also another essential element which one must incorporate in the hovercraft. The overall controlling mechanism in the hovercraft mainly attained via the application of the rudders. Preferably, the rudders used in the process tend to possess certain similarities as well as characteristics to those of the aircraft. The main difference which emerges when comparing the two elements is that the one applied for the hovercrafts tends to have more rudders as compared to the one for the aircraft (Pagowski and Szafran 2013 p.46). The mounting of the rudders mainly conducted on the SRN4 to allow for the changing thrust direction. On the other hand, there is the application of the dual thrust or the puff ports fans and principle of the operation of this mainly grounded on slowing as well as increasing the speed on the other side. The turning must conform and limited to the desired direction (Pan, Lai, Yang and Wu 2013 p.269). Notably, it is important to note that hovercrafts designed have the ability to float just like the other boats in the event that their engine is turned off. In shutting down the Hovercraft-Reducing engine, the RPM will hasten the process of reducing the air cushion heights as well as the increased drag. The drag tends to exist between the surface and the skirts (Ågren et al. 2014 p. 171-177).
Conclusion
In summary, the paper discussed the hovercraft vehicle design in line with the mechanical engineering considerations and principles. The focused of the paper was on the literature context. Some of the concepts tackled in the literature section include history of the hovercrafts, the operating principles, the stability and the control measures.
References
Ågren, J., Engberg, L.E., Alm, L., Dahlström, F., Engfeldt, A. and Lidberg, M., 2014. Improving the Swedish quasigeoid by gravity observations on the ice of Lake Vänern. In Gravity, Geoid and Height Systems (pp. 171-177). Springer, Cham.
Amiruddin, A.K., Sapuan, S.M. and Jaafar, A.A., 2011. Development of a hovercraft prototype with an aluminium hull base. International Journal of Physical Sciences, 6(17), pp.4185-4194.
Amyot, J.R. ed., 2013. Hovercraft technology, economics and applications (Vol. 11). Elsevier.
BE, O., 2013. Development of a Hovercraft Prototype. University of Technology Owerri-Nigeria.
Bhateja, A., Singh, N., Singh, S. and Kumar, R., 2013. Design and Fabrication of a Model Radio Controlled-Air Cushion Vehicle Utilize a Combined Single Trust and Lift System with a Body Shape of Box Made Out of Thermocol and with a Skirt Made Out of Plastic. International Journal of Computational Engineering and Management IJCEM, 16(1).
Cabecinhas, D., Batista, P., Oliveira, P. and Silvestre, C., 2018. Hovercraft Control With Dynamic Parameters Identification. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 26(3), pp.785-796.
Chaos, D., Moreno-Salinas, D., Muñoz-Mansilla, R. and Aranda, J., 2013. Nonlinear control for trajectory tracking of a nonholonomic rc-hovercraft with discrete inputs. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2013.
Working Principle
Detweiler, C., Griffin, B. and Roehr, H., 2012, October. Omni-directional hovercraft design as a foundation for MAV education. In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on (pp. 786-792). IEEE.
Dubowski, A., Grzelak, J., Pawlowski, T., Rakowicz, A., Weymann, S. and Zembrowski, K., 2011. Hovercraft designed especially for performing preservation operations on muddy areas within national and natural landscape parks. WIPO Patent 2011145962A1.
Garcia, D.I. and White, W.N., 2015. Control design of an unmanned hovercraft for agricultural applications. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 8(2), p.72.
Grau, J.J., 2012. Testing Bench Design and Tilting Propeller System Identification for the Development and Control of Thrust-vectoring Hovercraft (Doctoral dissertation, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City).
Haider, A. and Sajjad, M., 2012. Structural design and non-linear modeling of a highly stable multi-rotor hovercraft. Control Theory and Informatics, 2(4), pp.24-35.
Hollebone, A., 2012. Hovercraft: A History. The History Press.
Hoverspill consortium, 2014, May. Hoverspill: a new amphibious vehicle for responding in difficult-to-access sites. In International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2014, No. 1, pp. 649-659). American Petroleum Institute.
Kim, K., Lee, Y.K., Oh, S., Moroniti, D., Mavris, D., Vachtsevanos, G.J., Papamarkos, N. and Georgoulas, G., 2013, June. Guidance, navigation, and control of an unmanned hovercraft. In Control & Automation (MED), 2013 21st Mediterranean Conference on (pp. 380-387). IEEE.
Ladislao, M. and Forkan, C., Spin Master Ltd, 2018. Drone and separate vehicle body that are assemblable to form vehicle such as hovercraft. U.S. Patent 9,868,431.
Munoz-Mansilla, R., Chaos, D., Aranda, J. and Díaz, J.M., 2012. Application of quantitative feedback theory techniques for the control of a non-holonomic underactuated hovercraft. IET Control Theory & Applications, 6(14), pp.2188-2197.
Okafor, B.E., 2013. Development of a Hovercraft Prototype. International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 3(3), pp.276-281.
Pagowski, Z.T. and Szafran, K., 2013. The Ecological Hovercraft, Dream or Reality. Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation: Maritime Transport and Shipping, pp.44-48.
Pan, C.Z., Lai, X.Z., Yang, S.X. and Wu, M., 2013. Bioinspired neurodynamics based position-tracking control of hovercraft vessels. International Journal of Robotics and Automation, 28(3), pp.269-276.
Pedersen, B. and Spirov, P., QFO Labs Inc, 2015. Homeostatic flying hovercraft. U.S. Patent 9,073,532.
Prabhu, T., 2016. Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) For Coastal Surveillance. Rathinam Technical Campus: International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Vol, 7, pp.13-27.
Rao, S.U.M. and Prakash, V.S., 2014. Development of a Integrated Air Cushioned Vehicle (Hovercraft). International Journal Of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER), 4, pp.21-28.
Rashid, M.Z.A., Aras, M.S.M., Kassim, M.A., Ibrahim, Z. and Jamali, A., 2012. Dynamic Mathematical Modeling and Simulation Study of Small Scale Autonomous Hovercraft. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, 46, pp.95-114.
Richardson, W.J., Greene Jr, C.R., Malme, C.I. and Thomson, D.H., 2013. Marine mammals and noise. Academic press.
Roubieu, F.L., Serres, J., Franceschini, N., Ruffier, F. and Viollet, S., 2012, December. A fully-autonomous hovercraft inspired by bees: Wall following and speed control in straight and tapered corridors. In Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), 2012 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 1311-1318). IEEE.
Roubieu, F.L., Serres, J.R., Colonnier, F., Franceschini, N., Viollet, S. and Ruffier, F., 2014. A biomimetic vision-based hovercraft accounts for bees’ complex behaviour in various corridors. Bioinspiration & biomimetics, 9(3), p.036003.
Sun, R., Long, H., Gao, W. and Wang, S., 2018. 2015 Problem 9: Hovercraft. International Young Physicists’ Tournament: Problems and Solutions 2015, p.63.
Tao, M. and Chengjie, W., 2012. Hovercraft performance and skirt-cushion system dynamics design.
Thisdell, D., 2012. Rolls-Royce Osprey engines to go directly to hovercraft application. Flight International, (10), pp.37-41.