SURFACE EFFECT HULL CONFIGURATION UTILIZING REBOUND HUMP SEAL
A boat hull configuration for a boat includes a hull body having an air cavity created on an underside thereof that receives pressurized air from a blower through a blower inlet or plenum. The plenum is positioned in the cavity such that it divides the air cavity into a bow portion and an aft portion. The upper surface of the bow portion of the air cavity is configured to form a seal with a rebound hump produced by the hull body moving across a water surface when the ship is operating in a given speed range. This seal prevents air from venting from the forward portion of the air cavity when the bow of the hull rises during start up. The upper surface of the aft portion of the air cavity is positioned such that it does not come into contact with the rebound hump as the hump moves toward the aft of the hull as the boat accelerates. At high speeds, the rebound hump is behind the boat and the entire air cavity is pressurized and providing the maximum amount of lift and drag reduction.
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIXNot Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed toward a boat hull configuration for a vessel having air filled cavities. More particularly, the present invention is directed toward a boat hull having an air cavity shaped to utilize a rebound hump as a seal with a determinable speed range.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONSurface effect vessels which use cushions of air to provide lift and reduce friction between the boat's hull and the water are well known in the prior art. Basically, surface effect vessel technology involves injecting pressurized air under or between the hulls of a boat so that at least a portion of the boat's hull rides upon a cushion of air. By utilizing gas pressure contained within a pocket under the hull, a surface effect vessel can operate at higher speeds and reduced power levels as compared to conventional vessels. This increased performance is due to the fact that the friction between the air cushion and the boat hull is substantially less than the friction between the water and the boat hull. Thus, riding upon a cushion of air allows a surface effect vessel to reach higher speeds and operate more efficiently with a smaller engine than a typical vessel.
There are many prior art designs which utilize this surface effect. One of the primary problems with these prior art designs is that the water/air seal allows excessive amounts of air to escape. This air loss increases the volume and pressure of the air required to maintain an air cushion under the vessel. Producing and providing pressurized air requires power from the vessel's engines and blowers. Thus, the efficiency and performance of the vessel are greatly diminished when air escapes from the supporting air cushion. In addition, venting of the air substantially increases the drag of the hull and causes the vessel to lurch.
Prior art surface effect vessels suffer from particularly excessive venting and increased and variable drag during startup. This is due to the fact that a certain amount of speed is required for the boat to reach a planning equilibrium and establish consistent seals around the air cushions. During startup, the bow raises causing air to vent from the front of the air cushion. If the air cushion is only positioned toward the aft of the vehicle, the bow is not supported at high speeds. Thus, when starting out, prior art vessels often seem lethargic even though they may ultimately reach very high top speeds.
A familiar effect from a ship planing on the surface of the water is the wake rebound hump created in the water behind the vessel. The rebound hump is caused by the weight of the boat forcing down the water under the hull as the boat passes over. The displaced water then rebounds forming a hump behind the vessel. The distance between the back of the boat and the rebound hump, and the size and shape of the rebound hump, primarily depend upon the depth of immersion of the hull, the shape, and in particular the width, of the boat hull and the speed at which it is moving over the water's surface. Prior art surface effect vessels have a problem in that, at low speeds, the rebound hump may contact the inner surfaces of the air cushions and cause excessive drag. To prevent this, most prior art vessels increased the height of the air cavities to minimize contact between the rebound hump and the air cavities hull surface at low speeds. Placing the blower at the front of the air cavities tended to depress the rebound hump but resulted in the air cavity venting when the bow rises during startup. Therefore, in light of the above discussed problems with the prior art, what is needed in an improved air cushion hull configuration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA boat hull configuration for a boat includes a hull body having a multi-hull configuration with two or more side hulls wherein each side hull has a supporting air cavity created on an underside thereof that receives pressurized gas/air from a source such as a blower through a set of air ducts that lead to a plenum or air outlet in the air cavity. The plenum is positioned in a central location in the air cavity such that a portion of the air cavity is in a bow location with respect to the plenum and a portion Of the air cavity is in an aft location with respect to the plenum. The plenum preferably introduces the pressurized air into the air cavity with an aftward flow direction. An upper surface of the air cavity is configured to form a seal with a rebound hump produced by the hull body moving across the waters surface. The upper surface of the air cavity in the bow portion is closer to the water surface than an upper surface of the aft portion of the air cavity when the hull is substantially motionless with respect to the water's surface. The upper surface of the aft portion of the air cavity is positioned such that it does not come into substantial contact with the rebound hump when the pressurized hull body is moving with respect to the water's surface. As a result, the aft portion of the air cavity contains pressurized air and the bow portion of the cavity contains water when the boat hull is moving below a determinable speed.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed toward a surface effect ship that includes a pressurized air cavity. The air cavity is dimensioned to utilize a rebound hump created by a hull of the surface effect ship moving over the water's surface to prevent venting of air from the air cavity when the surface effect ship is traveling within a specified speed range. An upper surface of a portion of the air cavity does not come into contact with the rebound hump when the surface effect ship is moving with respect to the water's surface. The air cavity is also constructed such that a first portion of the air cavity contains air and a second portion of the cavity contains water when the surface effect ship is moving below a certain speed with respect to the water's surface. An exhaust gas entrance introduces exhaust gas from an exhaust trunk coupled to the surface effect ships engines into the air cavity to provide additional lift and establish an aft pressurized gas pocket area.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed toward a method of preventing air from venting from a supportive air cavity of a ship that has a plenum for introducing pressurized air into the supportive air cavity. In accordance with the method, a rebound hump created by a portion of a hull is used to prevent air from venting from the air cavity when the ship is traveling below an approximate speed. Pressurized air is introduced into the air cavity with an aftward flow direction to further prevent forward venting. A portion of the air cavity in front of the plenum is positioned to maintain a degree of contact with the water when a portion of the air cavity behind the plenum is supported by the pressurized air when the ship is moving within a desired speed range.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGSReferring now to
Water directing projections 9 are placed forward of the leading edge of the air cavities 8 and 10. The water directing projections 9 produce a high velocity column of water that is directed toward the edges Of the air cavities 8 and 10. The high velocity water flow from the water directing projections 9 minimize venting of pressurized air from the edges of the air cavities 8 and 10.
Preferably, the blowers for the air cavities 8 and 10 are independently adjustable. Providing independently adjustable air pressures allows an operator, or automated control system, of the vessel to compensate for any tendency for the vessel to lean to one side or the other due to any one of a variety of conditions such as turning or unbalanced loading.
To better understand the benefits of the present invention, it is necessary to fully understand the problems associated with an air cushion operation. Referring now to
In
A hull constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention overcomes the initial low speed venting and increased turbulence and drag problems associated with the hull of
As the hull accelerates, the surface of the water 67 begins to separate from the upper surface of the air cavity 64 as shown in
Due to the complexity of fluid mathematics, the proper distance to raise the hull on the front edge of the air cavity such that the rebound hump forms a seal with the upper surface of the air cavity during a desired range is best determined experimentally using computer CFD simulations or towed tank models. The shaping of the hull in front of the air cavity can be used to aid in rebound hump formation. A steeper slope on the hull in front of the cavity will produce a rebound hump that is higher. Conversely, a hull slope substantially parallel to the waters surface will produce a smaller rebound hump that is closer at a similar speed. The weight of the vessel ultimately supported will also affect the size and position of the rebound hump and variations in loading of the vessel may need to be taken into account during the design process depending upon the vessel's ultimate function and desired performance.
To further increase the efficiency and speed of a vessel, exhaust gas is preferably introduced into the air cavity 71 of a hull 70 as illustrated in
Referring now to
Although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful SURFACE EFFECT HULL CONFIGURATION UTILIZING REBOUND HUMP SEAL, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A boat hull configuration for a boat, said boat hull configuration comprising:
- a hull body having an air cavity created on an underside thereof for receiving pressurized air or gas from a blower through a plenum wherein said plenum is positioned in said cavity such that a portion of said air cavity is in a bow location with respect to said plenum and a portion of said air cavity is in an aft location with respect to said plenum and wherein an upper surface of said air cavity is configured to form a seal with a rebound hump produced by said hull body moving across a water surface.
2. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein said hull body further comprises a multi-hull configuration with at least two hulls wherein each hull has a supporting air cavity.
3. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein said plenum is positioned in a central location of said air cavity.
4. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein said upper surface of said air cavity in said bow portion is closer to the water surface than an upper surface of said aft portion of said air cavity when said hull is substantially still with respect to said water's surface.
5. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein said plenum introduces said pressurized air into said air cavity with an aftward flow direction.
6. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein an upper surface of said aft portion of said air cavity is positioned such that it does not come into substantial contact with said rebound hump when said hull body is moving with respect to said water's surface.
7. The boat hull configuration of claim 1 wherein said air cavity is constructed such that said aft portion of said air cavity contains air and said bow portion of said cavity contains water when said boat hull is moving below a determinable speed.
8. A surface effect ship comprising:
- a pressurized air cavity wherein said air cavity is dimensioned to utilize a rebound hump created by a hull of said surface effect ship moving over a water's surface to prevent venting of air from said air cavity when said surface effect ship is traveling in a speed range.
9. The surface effect ship of claim 8 wherein said air cavity is shaped such that a first portion of said air cavity contains air and a second portion of said cavity contains water when said surface, effect ship is moving below a certain speed with respect to said water's surface.
10. The surface effect ship of claim 8 wherein an upper surface of a portion of said air cavity does not come into contact with said rebound hump when said surface effect ship, is moving with respect to said water's surface.
11. The surface effect ship of claim 8 further comprising a plenum that introduces said pressurized air into said air cavity with an aftward flow direction.
12. The surface effect ship of claim 8 wherein an upper surface of said air cavity in a bow portion of said air cavity is closer to the water surface than an upper surface of an aft portion of said air cavity when said hull is substantially still with respect to said water's surface,
13. The surface effect ship of claim 8 wherein said hull further comprises a multi-hull configuration with at least two hulls wherein each hull has an air cavity.
14. A method of designing a supportive air cavity for a surface effect ship, said method comprising the steps of:
- using a rebound hump created by a portion of a hull of said surface effect ship to prevent air from venting from said air cavity when said surface effect ship is traveling below an approximate speed.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of introducing pressurized air into said air cavity with an aftward flow direction.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein said surface effect ship further comprises multiple hulls.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein a front portion of said air cavity is in at least some contact with water when a back portion of said air cavity is supported by said pressurized air when said surface effect ship is moving in a speed range.
18. The method of claim 14 wherein a hull surface of a front portion of said air cavity is lowered with respect to a hull surface of a back portion of said air cavity.
19. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of introducing exhaust gas into said air cavity.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of introducing said exhaust into said air cavity with an aft ward flow direction.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 31, 2008
Publication Date: Oct 1, 2009
Inventor: Bruce R. Barsumian (Cookeville, TN)
Application Number: 12/059,027
International Classification: B63B 1/32 (20060101);