Investigation on trim control of semi-planing amphibious cargo truck using experimental and numerical approaches

Abstract

Speed on water is a key indicator of amphibious vehicles. However, due to the inherent non-streamlined configuration, when reaching a certain velocity, the resistance acting on the vehicle hull is so large and the maximum speed on water is hard to be further enhanced. Moreover, the trim gets so larger that leads the stern submerged into water when speed up. In order to solve this problem of a semi-planing amphibious cargo truck, this paper proposed a method by installing interceptors, hydrofoils, and combination of them on the stern. Experimental tests and numerical studies were performed respectively, and the numerical results were in good agreement with experiment. In what continues, the effect of interceptors, hydrofoils, and combination of them on trim and resistance was investigated. The results showed that the interceptor had a better effect than hydrofoil when height is not so big, but the effect got more and more powerful with interceptor height increasing, finally lead to an excessive trim control. Combination of interceptor with hydrofoil in suitable size were beneficial to trim control and resistance reduction.