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Nonlinear Dynamics Performance Prediction of Large AUV

LI Ye1, SU Qinglei1, YIN Mulan2, FANG Lin2
1. National Key Laboratory of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology
2. Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, P.R. China
E-mail: liye@hrbeu.edu.cn
2. College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, P.R. China

Abstract: In this paper, considering the impact of current environment, the stress of the large AUV was analyzed and its motion
simulation model based on the six degrees freedom of motion equations was established. Working on a hull with wings as the
computational model by using CFD software to simulate tank experiments, the major hydrodynamic coefficients of the large
AUV were calculated. With the same method, the lift and drag curves of rudders were obtained. Found on those data, established
the manipulation motion simulation system of the large AUV to analyzed its maneuverability in the horizontal and vertical.
Simulation results show that this AUV has a good maneuverability, while the motion simulation system can provide some
technical support for the design and debug of the AUV’s controller.
Key Words: Underwater vehicle, Hydrodynamic, Maneuverability, Motion simulation

rudders in the stern. There is single propeller propulsion so

1 Instruction the AUV can reach 5kn in design and 8kn in maximum. The
The applications of AUV are expanding worldwide, such simplified model is shown in Fig. 1.
as in marine research, marine development and underwater
engineering. The developed military powers especially
United States pay a lot attention to the application of AUV
in future wars. AUV technology attaches great attention of
the naval powers of the world, which is critical to rapid
development now. Large AUV is full-featured, which
usually has large load capacity, long endurance,complex
operations capability underwater and is equipped with a
variety of sensors . In this paper, the large AUV has a high
speed; instead of using the vertical push and side push, use
the rudder propeller joint to achieve horizontal and vertical Fig. 1: The large AUV simplified model
movement.
The main purpose of motion simulation is to in-time and In order to describe the movement of AUV and establish
accurately reflects the current state of motion, spatial the simulation system, we must first establish suitable
position and posture while in a given operating command. It coordinate system of the AUV. According to the reference
can provide the basis for the manipulation performance [5], we can establish the following two coordinates: fixed
analysis and support for control system designing and coordinate system E-ȟȘȗUHIHUUHGWRDVIL[HG-OLQHZKLFK
methods selection [1]. In this paper, we worked on a large is fixed in the Earth; moving coordinate system O-xyz
AUV of the rudder propeller joint manipulation,and (dynamic system) which is fixed on the AUV to move, as
establish the six degrees freedom of motion equation [2]. shown in Fig. 2.
Through CFD software to simulate the PMM in circulating E
tank, get the main hydrodynamic coefficients and calculate ¯
the lift and drag curves of rudders [3]. At the same time,
considering the influence of the current movement, we
establish the simulation system and analyze the
manipulation performance of the AUV in static and current O
water [4]. ¨
y
2 Dynamics Model of The Large AUV
x
z
2.1 The Space Motion Equations of AUV §
The large AUV is 8.8m in long, 1.5m in diameter, adopt
Fig. 2: Fixed coordinate system and motion coordinate system
the battery to provide energy, and have two pair of
horizontal rudders in stern and bow, a pair of vertical According to Newton's second theorem and conversion
principle of coordinate system, we can obtain six degrees
*
This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of freedom of space motion equations for AUV:
China (51179035, 51279221) and Natural Science Foundation of
Heilongjiang Province(E201121)

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 >
­ m u  vr  wq   xG (q 2  r 2 )  yG ( pq  r)  z G ( pr  q ) @ X along direction of flow, the lift and resistance calculated
°
>
° m v  wp  ur   yG (r  p )  z G (qr  p )  xG (qp  r)
2 2
@ Y
according to the formulas (5):
1
>
°° m w  uq  vp   z G ( p 2  q 2 )  xG (rp  q )  yG (rq  p ) @ Z
(1)
L
2
C L UARV 2
(5)
®
° I xx p  ( I zz  I yy )qr  m> yG w  pv  qu   z G v  ru  pw@ K D
1
C D UARV 2
° I yy q  ( I xx  I zz )rp  m>z G u  qw  rv   xG w  pv  qu @ M 2
° Where: LC is the lift coefficients; CD is the drag
°¯ I zz r  ( I yy  I xx ) pq  m>xG v  ru  pw  yG u  qw  rv @ N coefficients; AR is the area of the rudder side projection; V is
Where: m is the weight of the AUV; (Ix, Iy, Iz) is the stream velocity.
moment of inertia about the three coordinate axes; (xG, yG, zG) Two pairs of stern rudder of the large AUV with the same
is the position of the center of gravity in the coordinates. The size can simplify as the trapezoidal rudder, and the bow
received total external force (external moment) of AUV is rudder can simplify as rectangular rudder. The rudder design
represented as a vector form as following: corner is generally not more than 28°. In this article, CFD
F=FH+FG+FB+FR+FP (2) software use to predict the rudder performance, while the
Where: FH, FG, FB, FR, FP - the hull hydrodynamic results shown in Fig. 3, and the calculated curves of the lift
(moment), gravity (moment), buoyancy (moment), and drag coefficients shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5.
rudder force (moment), propeller thrust (moment).
2.2 Hull Hydrodynamic
Hull hydrodynamic contains two parts: inertia classes and
viscous class, and hull hydrodynamic is the function of u, v,
w, p, q, r, u, v, w, p, q, r. According to the reference [2], we
often get hull hydrodynamic Taylor expansion in reference
point (usually use u0 as uniform direct-line sailing) and
ignore higher than second order hydrodynamic entry. Fig. 3: Pressure distribution and fluid velocity vector
Considering the shape characteristics and different
hydrodynamic coefficients of large AUV impact, we can
simplify the hull for the corresponding suffered six degrees
of freedom of water power (moment). Finally, we get the
AUV hydrodynamic coefficients by ignore the impact of
underwater robot smaller hydrodynamic coefficients (3):
­ X H X u u  X qq q 2  X rr r 2  X vr vr  X wq  R (u )
°
°YH Yv v  Yr r  Yv uv  Yr ur  Ywp wp  Y pq pq 
°
°Yr r r r  Yv v v v  Yv r v r
°
°Z H Z 0 u  Z w w   Z q q  Z w uw  Z q uq 
2

°Z w w  Z q q q q  Z rp rp  Z vp vp
° ww Fig. 4: The lift and drag curves of the bow rudders
® (3)
° K H K p p  K p up  K p p p p
°
°M H M 0 u  M w w   M q q  M w uw  M q uq 
2

°M w w  M q q  M rp rp  M vp vp  M w q w q
° ww q q

°N N v v  N r r  N v uv  M r ur  N v v v v 
° H
° N r r r r  N pq pq  N wp wp  N v r v r
¯
Where: R(u) is navigational resistance which is a function
of velocity u; Xu, Xqq, Yv, Yr|r| are hydrodynamic coefficients;
Z0 and M0 are forces asymmetry caused by boat type and
speed moment coefficients.
2.3 Gravity and Buoyancy
The gravity and buoyancy is equal. Remaining static load Fig. 5: The lift and drag curves of the stern rudders
is 0. So trim righting moment is: 2.5 Propeller Force
M H mg ˜ ( Z C  Z G ) ˜ sin T (4)
There is only one propeller in the propulsion system of the
2.4 Rudder Forces large AUV, and its maximum thrust is 200kgf. As shown in
Fig. 6, the corresponding thrust value can be obtained at a
The large AUV has 3 pairs of rudder in total: 1 pair of certain speed and the voltage by the curves of control
bow horizontal is rectangular rudder and 2 pairs of stern are voltage-thrust force-fluid velocity. Using quadratic
trapezoidal rudder. Rudder fluid forces can be decomposed interpolation to get the thrust force values in the motion
into lift L vertical to the flow direction and resistance D simulation program.

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 Table 2: Horizontal speed coefficients results

E (°) 3 5 8 10
v(m/s) 0.087 0.218 0.348 0.434
Y (N) -146 -408.7 -711.4 -1035.2
N ( N ˜ m ) 3070 7182.7 11359.4 13514.7
Fitting by the method of least squares, and changing to
dimensionless, get the vertical and the horizontal velocity
coefficients:
Fig. 6: Curves of control voltage-thrust force-fluid velocity Z wc 0.02065, M wc 0.038809;
3 Hydrodynamic Coefficients Acquisition Yvc 0.02065, N vc 0.038809 .
The hydrodynamic determine to obtain the inertia and
3.2 Solving Coefficients Under Unsteady Situation
viscous class hydrodynamic coefficients. The object is the
model of the hull with wings. Computational grid model is While solving the acceleration coefficients and angular
shown in Fig. 7. Using CFD software Fluent simulate acceleration coefficients, Fluent apply to simulate PMM
experiments in the both steady and unsteady tank to get measured hydrodynamic coefficients by using dynamic
Hydrodynamic coefficients [6]. mesh. Model moves in accordance with the law specified in
the control domain. At the same time ,in order to simulate
the infinite flow at the entrance of the control domain ,set
flow speed u=2.5m/s. According to a different law of motion,
the robot can be divided into pure heave motion, pure sway
motion, pure pitching motion and pure shake bow
movement. Considering the robot symmetrical
characteristics , we just need to discuses pure heave and
pure pitching motion. Based on each of the equations of
motion, we compile user self-defined function (UDF)
program and make model hull wall movement in accordance
with the equations of motion in the the control domain.
Table 3 shows the experimental conditions [7].
Table 3: Pure heave and pure pitch experimental condition table

Velocity of flow(m/s): 2.5

Fig. 7: The mixed grid divide of the AUV as whole/local Pure heave Amplitude(a-m): 0.04
Vibration frequency(Hz): 0.2,0.4,0.5
3.1 Solving Speed Coefficients Under Steady Situation
Velocity of flow(m/s): 2.5
In the case of steady, we can solve the drag coefficients,
and the horizontal and vertical speed factor. Pure pitch $PSOLWXGHș0-rad): 1
Drag coefficients: Select separate implicit solver and Vibration frequency(Hz): 0.2,0.4,0.5
SST k-omega turbulence model widely used. The main While calculation, a movement cycle is divided into 250
initial conditions are selected to the flow velocity and time steps. Taking into account the initial subject to
turbulence parameters.The entry speed and resistance for oscillation, we general calculate five cycles to obtain a
drag coefficients are in Table 1. stable hydrodynamic graph which changes with time. Based
Table 1: Drag coefficients results on a stable cycle curve, use software Matlab to expand the
results by Fourier series and fit the corresponding
Speed (m/s) 2.0 2.5 4.1 hydrodynamic coefficients.
Resistance (N) -410.5 -626.3 -1590.1 Table 4: Vertical plane coefficients by simulation PMM
Drag coefficients (10-3) 2.65 2.59 2.45
Z wc M wc Z qc M qc
Fitting by the method of least squares, and changing to
-0.00728 -0.00523 -0.00109 0.000126
dimensionless, the calculated value of the resistance
c =-0.002563.
coefficients is X uu Z wc M wc Z qc M qc

Speed coefficients: Speed coefficients are calculated, in -0.02065 0.038809 0.002734 0.014233
addition to set different velocity inlet, the other settings are Because of the principles of the calculations in the case of
the same as the drag coefficients. While setting flow speed a steady velocity coefficients is defined by the velocity
u=2.5m/s, we simulate the model’s angle of attack changes coefficients, so the reliability of the velocity coefficients
from 0° to 10°in the control body . Horizontal plane speed obtained by this case is higher. Eventually get 17 basic
coefficients results are shown in Table 2. hydrodynamic coefficients in Table 5.

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 Table 5: Dimensionless hydrodynamic coefficients 5.1 Simulation of Longitudinal Velocity
coefficients values coefficients values In the simulation system, the large AUV navigates in a
longitudinal straight direction. Giving different propellers
Z wc -0.00728 M wc -0.00523
the control instruction, AUV accelerates from the stationary
Z wc -0.02065 M wc 0.038809 state to a uniform motion. Fig. 9 shows the curves of
velocity response. The results shows, the acceleration time
Z qc -0.00109 M qc 0.000126 of the large AUV is about 100s, the speed responds quite fast,
Z qc M qc and meet the design requirement that a maximum speed is
0.002734 0.014233
8kn.
Yvc -0.00728 N vc -0.00523

Yvc -0.02065 N vc 0.038809

Yrc -0.00109 N rc 0.000126
Yrc 0.002734 N rc 0.014233
c
X uu -0.00256
Based on the calculation results, according to the method
from reference [5] to get more high-end and coupled items
hydrodynamic coefficients, and ultimately meet the needs of
the simulation.  
4 Establishment of Simulation System Fig. 9: Curves of longitude velocity response
Based on the dynamic model of AUV established above, 5.2 Simulation of Horizontal Rotation Motion
by solving the equations of motion with Runge-Kutta
Simulation result was given, in the cases of a pair of
method, motion simulation platform was established via VC
vertical rudder with the rudder angle form 5° to 25°. Fig. 10
programming,and system data communication was realized
shows the trajectory of the gravity center in the horizontal
and controlled via a network. The simulation system is
plane. Fig. 11 shows the relation curves between rotational
illustrated in Fig. 8.
diameter and vertical rudder angle.
Initializes the state

Start simulation

System control System state

Controller variables variables

Differential equations of state

Runge-Kutta Integration

Update the amount of system status

Fig. 10: Horizontal rotary motion simulation
No
Whether the end
Yes

End

Fig. 8: Motion Simulation Platform

5 Simulation of Manipulation Performance

Select the underwater robot horizontal plane rotary
motion, the horizontal plane Z-shaped steering maneuver,
vertical trapezoidal steering maneuver and space constant
spiral motion to predict the maneuverability of AUV.
According to the designed velocity of the large AUV, by
simulating the longitude velocity, give propeller the voltage
value corresponding design speed so that the direct speed
Fig. 11: Relationship between turning radius and rudder angle
will 2.5m/s, and then conduct all the simulation
experimental of maneuverability.

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 The test was conducted under different speeds but the
same rudder angle. In the chosen speed range, rotational
diameter hardly changes with speed, and the minimum
rotational diameter is about 65m.
5.3 Horizontal Z-shaped Steering Motion Simulation
Conduct the horizontal plane Z-shaped steering motion
simulation with į0ȥ0=10°/10°, 20°/20°, by steering a pair of
vertical rudder simultaneously with the rate of 4°/ s. Fig. 12
shows the simulation results.
Fig. 12: Curves of rudder angle and bow direction angle
As the result shows , the beyond heading angles are 7.6°
and 14.8° corresponding to the 10°and 20°test, and the
period are 44s and 61s. This suggests that the large AUV has
a good mobility performance in the horizontal plane and the
rudder has a better ability to control heading.
5.4 Vertical Trapezoidal Steering Motion Simulation
Descend simulation by steering the tail level rudder, in
this cases, longitudinal angle șe=7°, uniform rudder steering
rate of 4°/s, instructions rudder angle į0=10°. Fig. 13 shows
value. It is a coupling of the horizontal movement and
vertical movement. Characterization parameters of space
steady spiral motion conclude the horizontal projection
diameter Ds DQG OLWHU GLVWDQFH ǻ<e. Fig. 14 shows the
simulation curve of AUV’s space spiral motion, with
changing the horizontal rudder angle to 10° and a vertical
rudder angle to 5°, thus, showing the AUV’s space
trajectory.
Fig. 14 The simulation curve of the AUV’s space spiral motion
6 Simulation Under Current Disturbance
Force is the essence of currents affect on the
AUV .Therefore, in the presence of currents, the AUV is
also affected by the interference forces of the sea currents in
addition to the thrust generated by its movement due to the
hull of the hydrodynamic and executing agency. The
essence of the current disturbance force is also a fluid
hydrodynamic; as a result, the total force of the hull
hydrodynamic and current disturbance force is directly
calculated in this paper.
According to the principle of relative motion and the
the simulation results,while ȗWLQWKHILJXUHLVWKHYHUWLFDO
location of the AUV.
Fig. 13: Vertical trapezoid steering movement simulation
According to the curves in the Fig.13, when the horizontal
rudder angle turn to zero, the trim angle converges to the
initial state due to its righting moment effect. That is, the
AUV has a trim angle caused by an initially interference, but
when the interference disappeared, trim angle has a ability to
recover by itself. However, there is no the self-recovery
capability in the depth direction, and it should be corrected
via control.
5.5 Space Given Regular Helical Motion Simulation
Space spiral motion is a rotational descends motion that
AUV makes especially when sailing in a certain depth, the
underwater robot set deep sailing, during which the
horizontal rudder and vertical rudder are rotated to a fixed
physical meaning of the hull hydrodynamic coefficients,
under the currents interference, the hydrodynamics of the
AUV are no longer a function of the absolute velocity (u, v,
w) , but a function of the velocity (ur, vr, wr) of AUV relative
to the currents. As a result, the hull hydrodynamic of the
AUV moving in currents can be calculated by adopting the
velocity of the AUV relative to the currents instead of
absolute speed in the calm water.
6.1 Simulation of Longitudinal Velocity
Fig. 14 shows the simulation results of AUV trajectory
curves, in the cases of the side flow and inclined side flow
DQJOHȕc=90°, 45°, the currents velocity uc=2kn, and that the
AUV itself does not produce thrust, only fluttering freely
under the effect of currents. The results show that
underwater robot without power will drift along with the
current under that condition.
Fig. 14: The trajectory curves of under cXUUHQWVȕF ƒ\ 45°

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 6.2 Longitudinal Velocity Under Current Disturbance
Fig. 15 shows the simulation results of longitudinal
YHORFLW\LQWKHFDVHVȕc=180°, uc=2kn, and when the AUV
sails against the currents. The results show that AUV’s
navigation ability will decline when sailing in the
countercurrent.
Fig. 15: Countercurrent uc=1kn, longitudinal velocity curves
6.3 Rotation Motion Under Current Disturbance
Fig. 16 shows the AUV trajectory curves in the simulated
KRUL]RQWDOSODQHVWHSUXGGHUURWDWLRQH[SHULPHQWZLWKȕc=0°,
uc=0kn, 1kn, 2kn. The results show that AUV’s circles into a
spiral trajectory, and associated with lateral movement. As a
result, in the condition of co-current, the effect of current’s
speed and direction on AUV’s trajectory must be taken into
consideration when AUV needs to rotate in cases turning
around or avoiding collision, and adopting corresponding
control measures.
Fig. 16: Cocurrent, rotation movement trajectory curves
6.4 Space Spiral Motion Under Current Disturbance
Fig. 17 shows the AUV trajectory curves of the simulated
VSDFHPRWLRQXQGHUFXUUHQWLQWHUIHUHQFHZLWKĮc ƒȕc=0°,
uc=1kn. The results show that, if the direction of current is
not the same as the sailing direction of AUV, horizontal
movement will take place when AUV sinks or rises. It takes
special control for AUV to do vertical movement strictly.
Current should be considered when AUV needs to sink
spirally under current environment. To realize AUV’s
steady and accurate sink, in-time control should be
employed, on the basis of current’s velocity and direction,
compounding the posture and moving status of AUV.
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Fig. 16: The curve of the space spiral motion under current
7 Conclusions
This paper established a mathematical model of a large
AUV manipulation motion. The CFD software Fluent was
employed to simulate tank experiment, in this way, major
hydrodynamic coefficients of AUV were determined. By
adopting the manipulation motion simulation system, the
manipulation performance of a large AUV was forecast.
The results show that this large AUV has a relatively better
rudder response performance, and the horizontal rotational
diameter can meet the design requirement. It also shows that
to realize AUV’s steady and accurate sink under current
interference, in-time control must be employed to counter
current. This simulation system can serve the designing and
debugging of AUV controller as a technical support, and has
a great importance on its motion control.
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