Introduction to Stability of Submarine

The most unique feature of submarine design stability is that unlike ships,
submarine stability is studied at two conditions:

 Surfaced Stability (when part of the submarine is above the waterline), and
 Submerge Stability (when the submarine is completely submerged, and no
part or appendages are above the waterline).

The fundamentals of floatation and Archimedes’ Principle are used to arrive at the

equation of floatation of a submarine, that is, in either of submerged or surfaced
condition, the weight of the submarine is equal to the buoyancy force acting on it.

This also implies that for a surfaced submarine to submerge, the total weight of the
submarine has to increase. It is only then that in submerged condition, the
buoyancy on the volume of the submarine above the waterline (in surfaced
condition) can be balanced by the additional weight.

So how weight added to the submarine? Remember Main Ballast Tanks (MBTs)?
Sea water is taken into these tanks, and this added weight of the sea water
increases the weight of the submarine, which allows the submarine to dive.

We will first look into the diving and surfacing techniques before going further
into stability and understanding how submarine works.

Diving and Surfacing of Submarines

We will look into the parts and components of a main ballast tank to understand
the sequence followed in diving and surfacing. The following figure illustrates a
transverse section of an MBT.
The two vital parts of MBTs are the:

 flood ports, and

 air vents

Flood ports are openings at the bottom most position of the outer hull that allows
water to enter and leave the tank.

Air vents risers, one on port and starboard side each, are routed from the tank to
the main air vent at the top of the pressure hull. For a surfaced submarine to dive,
the air vent at the top is opened. This allows the air in the tank to escape, and sea
water floods in from the flood ports below. The ballast weight now added helps the
submarine to dive in.

Now, the operating depth of most modern submarines is 300 to 450 meters. For a
submarine to surface from that depth, it first uses its hydroplanes to reduce its
depth upto 3 to 4 meters below waterline. Once it cruises at that depth, high
pressure air at approximately 15 bar is introduced into the tank through the air
valve. The air pushes the water out of the tank through the flood ports. Once this
weight is lost, the submarine is now positively buoyant and rises up to surfaced
condition.

The figure below shows the flooding conditions of the MBTs and freely flooded
regions (forward dome, aft cone, and the sail) during submerged and surfaced
conditions.
Figure 2: Submarine in Submerged and Surfaced Conditions.
 

Surface Stability of Submarines

A submarine in surfaced condition has to satisfy the same stability principles as
that of a surfaced ship. The primary requirement in surfaced condition is that, it
should remain afloat even after any kind of damage. Which means, there should be
a significant volume of the hull above the waterline. This is called the Reserve of
Buoyancy (ROB). The figure below represents the volume of the hull that
contributes to reserve of buoyancy

Figure 3: Volume of Hull contributing to ROB of a submarine.

 
Understanding the concept of ROB is very vital to a designer, as in, it helps the
designer to arrive at a primitive value of the required volume of MBTs for a given
pressure hull volume.

The ROB of a submarine is basically the ratio of the effective volume of all the
MBTs to the volumetric displacement of the submarine in surfaced condition. The
effective volume is the total “blowable” volume of the tanks (i.e. volume of the
tank required to be filled to submerge the submarine). And just like surfaced ships,
the surface displacement of the submarine is the weight of the submarine minus the
free flood water. Now note in Figure 2, that in submerged condition, the only
structure providing buoyancy is the pressure hull. Hence, the weight of the
submerged submarine minus the free flood water is equal to the buoyancy on the
fully pressure hull.

The above definition and analysis of ROB helps us to arrive at the following
relation between the ROB and pressure hull volume to achieve the total blowable
volume of MBT required.

The amount of ROB that needs to be incorporated in a design depends on the size
of the submarine. Smaller submarines will have lesser freeboard, hence the larger
ROB is desirable in smaller submarines than larger ones. ROB in submarines
usually range from 10 percent to 20 percent, and the value can reach higher limits
in case of double hull submarines.

The transverse stability analysis of a submarine is similar to that of a surface ship,

as both follow the same hydrostatic principles. The stability criteria of the
submarine in surfaced condition is its metacentric height (GM), as shown in the
figure below
Figure 4: Surfaced Stability of Submarine.
In the above case, when the surfaced submarine heels, the centre of buoyancy (B)
shifts to a new position (B1). The metacentre (M) if above the centre of gravity,
creates a righting moment that brings the submarine back to upright position.

Submarines are very weight sensitive, as in, during the entire operation of a
submarine, all operations are to be carried out in such a way so that there is
minimum shift in the longitudinal position of the centre of gravity. As shown in the
figure below, the slightest change in longitudinal centre of gravity will cause a
trimming moment that results in a drastic decrease in the water plane area. Since
the longitudinal metacentric height will be proportional to the on the waterplane
area, any trimming moment rapidly reduces the metacentric height
Figure 5: Change in waterplane area due to trimming moment.
 

Submerged Stability of Submarines:

When the MBTs are blowed and pressed full, the submarine dives, and now enters
an environment of operation that is not familiar to most engineers and designers of
surface ships. The first property of a submerged submarine is its ability to execute
motions in all six degrees of freedom. The minimum and maximum allowable
depths are called ceiling and floor. The above properties are similar to that of an
aeroplane, but there is one aspect that makes a submarine unique, that is, unlike an
aeroplane, a submarine does not depend on forward motion to support its weight.
The fins on a submarine are only used to invoke lift forces that help it to alter
depth. But a submarine can remain static in a submerged condition without any
forward motion, and without the help of its fins, why?

The answer lies in the weight-buoyancy relation maintained in submarines. When

the weight of the submarine is more than the buoyancy, it sinks until any corrective
action is taken to reduce the weight or increase the buoyancy. This condition is
called Negatively Buoyant.

Similarly, when the weight is less than the buoyancy, the submarine is said to be
Positively Buoyant, and floats up until corrective action is taken to increase the
weight. But all submarines in submerged condition operate on a condition that lies
between the above two, such that the weight and buoyancy are always equal. The
submarine, in this condition, is called Neutrally Buoyant. How a submarine
achieves neutrally buoyant, is something we will study in further articles of this
series.

Figure 6: Submarine in Positively, Negatively, and Neutrally Buoyancy

Conditions.
 
The transverse stability criteria of a submarine changes significantly in submerged
condition. Since any angle of heel in a submerged submarine does not cause a
change in the underwater volume, the centre of buoyancy remains unchanged. In
other words, the metacentre of a submerged submarine coincides with the centre of
buoyancy. Hence, the metacentric height (GM) is transformed to (BG), as shown in
the figure below. Now, there can be two cases here. One, when the centre of
gravity (G) is below the centre of buoyancy (B). Two, when the centre of
buoyancy (B) is above the centre of gravity (G).

Figure 7: Stable and Unstable Conditions in a Submerged Submarine.

As shown, when the G is below B, a righting moment is developed, which brings

the submarine to its upright position, whereas, when the G is above B, the
submarine capsizes. It is due to this reason, the centre of buoyancy of a submerged
submarine is always maintained above the centre of gravity. Or in other words,
since the position of B is fixed for a particular submarine, it is always ensured that
the G is below B. There are special tanks and systems used to maintain this
condition, the details of which are in the scope of future articles of this series.
The stability criteria of a submerge submarine is BG, and the variation of the
righting lever GZ with the angle of heel is as shown in the figure below.

Figure
8: Stability curve of a submerged submarine.

Buoyancy and Weight Elements

A study unique to the design of submarines is the identification of the buoyancy
and weight elements in a submarine. Before we do that, we will first know the
meaning of each, and why they are required during the design process.

Buoyancy Elements
The components of a submarine that constitute to its total buoyancy are
collectively called buoyancy elements. To identify them, let us start with the
easiest one. Most of the buoyancy acts on the pressure hull (refer figure 2), and
hence the entire pressure hull volume is a buoyancy element. But since the
components inside the pressure hull are not in contact with sea water, they do not
contribute to the buoyancy, and cannot be categorised as buoyancy elements.

The displaced volume of the outer hull (that is, the volume displaced by the steel
plates of the the outer hull) also contributes to buoyancy. Note that the volume
enclosed by the outer hull is not being considered here.
In some cases, the forward and aft structure that is freely flooded, may contain
tanks that are not flooded. In such cases, the enclosed volume of those external
tanks are considered as buoyancy elements.

The sail is freely flooded in submerged condition, and it also contains the conning
tower (escape trunk), periscopes and an array of masts. The volume occupied by
these structures add to the buoyancy, and hence their enclosed volumes are
considered as buoyancy elements.

In the forward region, part of the torpedo tubes are within the pressure hull, and
part of them are outside the pressure hull in the freely flooded region, as depicted
in the figure below. The enclosed volume of the torpedo tubes in the freely flooded
region acts as a buoyancy element.

Figure 9: Torpedo tubes as buoyancy elements.

 
The propeller shaft passes through a tube which is freely flooded, hence the
volume of the portion of the propeller shaft in the freely flooded region acts as
buoyancy element.

The buoyant volume occupied by all the appendages like propeller, rudders,
forward fins, aft fins, sonar arrays, etc. also contribute to the buoyancy.
Additionally, any air pockets created in the ballast tanks are also buoyancy
elements, and hence these are unwanted as they unexpectedly increase the
buoyancy on the submarine, therefore creating a positively buoyant situation.

Weight Elements
Components on a submarine that contribute to its total weight are called weight
elements. All the fixed weight on the submarine as listed below are among the
primary weight components:

 Pressure hull structure that includes pressure hull plating, circular stiffening
frames, tanks, brackets, etc.
 Main propulsion plant that includes the diesel alternators, the electric
propulsion motor (for a diesel electric submarine), shafting system, thrust
block, thrust bearings, propeller, and associated machinery.
 Batteries stored in battery banks.
 Weapons stowed inside the submarine.
 Weight of all other machinery, component, and permanent fixtures on the
submarine.

Apart from the fixed weight elements, there are variable weight elements, that is,
their magnitudes change with time:

 Weight of crew.
 Weight of stores (e.g. fresh water, food, etc)
 Weight of consumables (diesel oil, lube oil, etc.)
 Weight of bilge, and solid waste.
 Weight of ballast.

A proper listing of all the weight and buoyancy elements are required, along with
their individual weight, centre of gravity, enclosed volume, and centre of
buoyancy. Once all the buoyancy elements are listed with their volumes and centre
of volumes, the data is used to arrive at the total buoyancy of the submarine, and
the 3D coordinates of the centre of buoyancy. Similar analysis is done for all the
weight elements to arrive at the CG and weight of the submarine. This data is used
to correlate the weight buoyancy relationship for a submarine.

Though this article has provided a lot of new insight on analysis of stability for
submarines, there are significant parts that are related to this, but will require
further knowledge to be understood. Which brings us to the next article, where we
will discuss all the different types of tanks in a submarine, and their functions, and
how design decisions are taken for each type of tank depending on their purpose.