Tow tank experiment makes waves in research
Christine Gilbert, a professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering, and her PhD and undergraduate students are conducting a study in the tow tank in Norris Hall. The 98 foot-long tank helps researchers test watercraft design in relation to different real-world scenarios and measure the force and pressure exerted on the hull.
So Virginia Tech's tow tank is approximately 98 feet long. It's housed in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. The tow tanks are typically used for resistance testing or other types of testing of ships and undersea vehicles. The tow tank that we're using here is to assess slamming loads on small high speed craft. So we're basically looking at the force and pressure response of a four foot model boat in different sea state conditions. And specifically what I've been working on is more of the data analysis, post processing of just looking at the results and seeing what's useful, what's not useful, and interpreting those data. And then with the undergrad group that we have working with us right now, I'm basically just teaching them how to use the system. I'm working in Professor Gilbert's lab for undergraduate research credit. I'm an ocean engineering student, and so I've always wanted to do naval architecture and work on boats. And that's what my internship for the summer is. I'm working with small craft for the military through the DOD, and I think that's what I want to do for my career. We've involved a lot of undergraduate students in this project because it's a really cool project. Students really like to be able to see what they're applying in classes, and we really want to try to give as much visibility to the ocean engineering program that we have here at Virginia Tech because it is a very special program, and there are a lot of jobs available for people to work in naval architecture and ocean engineering.
Related Content
-
Video Item
-
Video Item
-
Video Item
-
Video Item