The Use of Foam in the Emergency Support of Hovercraft During Power Failure at Sea.
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of high expansion liquid foams as a shock absorber and stabilizer when used in the plenum chambers of hovercraft at sea and under power failure conditions. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase One was concerned with the question of stabilization of and foam flow out from under a small simple model representing a hovercraft. Briefly these tests showed that for selected values of bubble size and expansion factor, and thus viscosity, the escape of foam from the plenum chamber was at a much slower rate than the escape of air. Phase Two studies were conducted on a larger scale model to determine the response of a hovercraft to the action of waves, as if at sea, with high expansion foam filling the plenum chamber. Reduced accelerations using foam rather than air were not generally significant. The results are also difficult to extend to prototype behavior since modeling relationships for the foams are unknown. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0717676
Entities
People
- Thomas E. Stelson
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University