Browsing by Author "Pereira, Pedro Nuno de Almeida Arrojado da Silva"
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- Housing components for autonomous underwater vehicles – design and structural validation via finite element analysisPublication . Pereira, Pedro Nuno de Almeida Arrojado da Silva; Campilho, Raul Duarte Salgueiral GomesEvery day, more and more effort is put into the production of green energy as a countermeasure to climatic changes and sustainability. One of the biggest bets of the energy industry is in offshore wind energy, using wind towers. This technology can benefit greatly from interventive AUVs to assist in the maintenance and control of underwater structures. The wireless charger system extends the time the AUV can remain underwater by allowing it to charge its batteries through a docking station. On the other hand, the imaging perception system enables a 3D reconstruction of the AUV target, thus contributing to the mission. The present work details the development process of housing components for two different systems: a wireless charging system and an imaging perception system, to be implemented in an AUV, from the concept stage to the final physical verification stage. These products were designed following a design for excellence and modular design philosophy, implementing visual scorecards to measure the success of certain design aspects. For an adequate choice of materials, the Ashby material selection method is implemented. The prototypes structural performance was validated via linear static finite element analysis before being outsourced for production. These prototypes were further physically verified in a hyperbaric chamber. Results show that the application of FEM, together with well-defined design goals, have a very positive impact in the optimization of the housings, which would have been more time consuming and costly otherwise. Additionally, the Ashby material selection method allowed to equate the material choice, achieving the best performance for the lower cost.