Modular Underwater Thruster Design and Analysis for MSI300

Abstract

The ocean’s living resources are a treasure for current and future generations of humankind. To sustain the resources, the scientists start to develop underwater vehicle such as ROV’s and AUV’s to seabed mapping and sampling. This underwater vehicle was propelled by underwater thrusters, which consists of electric motor and propeller fix at the shaft. However, most of the available Underwater Thrusters (UT) is not specifically meet the requirement of underwater vehicle such as the size and the power output. In this research, new thrusters designed for generally used in underwater vehicle. Finite element analysis was applied to determine the optimal thickness for the motor casing regarding to operating depth. Modular design concept was adept to make the UT component easily change if failure such as motor malfunction or casing leaking during operation. From finite element analysis, the optimal thickness of the casing for 1000 meter operating depth was 12 mm for aluminum T6-6061. The new UT also easily fit to MSI300 which is design by the researcher from UNIKL-MSI. This new thrusters significantly helps the researcher to develop the underwater vehicle at low cost also optimal in performance.