ABSTRACT
Underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is used to monitor the subsea-surface mooring and piping lines. In this study, the hydrodynamic characteristics of a remote-operated vehicle are analysed using an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. In the first CFD simulation set, the ROV is tested at surge velocity in the water current flow and the pressure coefficient is validated against the experimental measurements. In the second CFD simulation set, a numerical wave tank is proposed to study two cases with ROV and pipe under the action of surface waves after verification with the literature. Coefficients of lift and drag of ROV are compared and the streamlines are visualised. Substantial reduction of velocity ratio with normalised pressure difference and higher frequency of vortex shedding are observed in the case of ROV with pipe against ROV alone. From this study, the time history of velocity near ROV is found to be essential during the operation.
Data availability statement
All the data in this study are obtained using OpenFOAM software. The data will be made available via correspondence as per the request by an email.
Nomenclature | ||
AUV | = | Autonomous Underwater Vehicle |
A | = | Area |
CFD | = | Computational Fluid Dynamics |
C | = | Coefficient |
D | = | Drag force |
I | = | Intensity |
k | = | Turbulence kinetic energy |
L | = | Lift force |
P | = | Pressure |
ROV | = | Remote-Operated Underwater Vehicle |
t | = | time |
u, V | = | velocity (component) |
WG | = | Water gauge (water level indicator sensor) |
Subscripts | ||
d | = | drag |
l | = | lift |
p | = | pressure |
ref | = | reference |
Symbols | ||
α | = | Volume fraction |
ρ | = | density of fluid |
ω | = | turbulence specific dissipation rate |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).