Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
, 2014
Research Paper
The air cushion vehicle or hovercraft, as it is popularly known is the newest vehicle in todays
transport scene. As well as being new, this vehicle is different from other more conventional,
terrestrial vehicle in that it requires no surface contact for traction and it is able to move freely
over a variety of surface while supported continuously on a self-generated cushion of air. Our
attempt was to study the design characteristics and working principle of the hovercraft, and use
standard calculations to determine the lift forces required. The dimensions of the air gap generated
are also calculated specifically. The thrust forces required are greatly reduced due to the reduction
in frictional forces, both static and dynamic. The total study process is concluded with mention
of details for the constituent parts, which will be ascertained further by calculations from standard
formulae. This paper brings out the details of the theoretical study carried out for the successful
propulsion of the hovercraft.
Keywords: Lift force, Air gap, Integrated propulsion, Thrust, Static friction, Dynamic friction,
Hover height
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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 V Abhiram et al., 2014
on a cushion of air several inches off the hole by the blower as shown in Figure 1. The
ground. The process of attaining lift begins by skirt inflates and the increasing air pressure
directing airflow under the craft. The force of acts on the base of the hull thereby pushing up
thrust is responsible for the movement of (lifting) the unit. Small holes made underneath
hovercraft in the horizontal direction, and is the skirt prevent it from bursting and provide
achieved with the help of a propeller fan. the cushion of air needed. A little effort on the
When the hovercraft is finally able to move hovercraft propels it in the direction of the push.
it will most definitely require steering Figure 1 shows how pressure is developed in
capabilities. This is achieved through the use the skirt.
of rudders. The shape of the rudder dictates As soon as the assembly floats, a blower
how well it will be able to move air.When riding incorporated in the thrust engine blows air
a hovercraft the natural state of motion is easily backwards which provides an equal reaction
seen to be constant vector velocity with a that causes the vehicle to move forward. Little
constant rate of rotation. power is needed as the air cushion has
drastically reduced friction. Steering effect is
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION achieved by mounting rudders in the airflow
The hovercraft floats above the ground surface from the blower or propeller. A change in
on a cushion of air supplied by the lift fan. The direction of the rudders changes the direction
air cushion makes the hovercraft essentially of air flow thereby resulting in a change in
frictionless. Air is blown into the skirt through a direction of the vehicle. This is achieved by
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connecting wire cables and pulleys to a handle. these problems, a plenum chamber with a
When the handle is pushed it changes the momentum curtain was developed.
direction of the rudders.
Hovercraft Skirt
CONSTRUCTION Despite the momentum curtain being very
effective the hover height was still too low
Lifting Fan
unless great, and uneconomical, power was
Firstly the volume of air needed is very large
used.The skirt is a shaped, flexible strip fitted
and a propeller is designed to be most efficient
below the bottom edges of the plenum
in open air like on an aircraft. Also the fan
chamber slot. As the hovercraft lifts, the skirt
needs to force air into the chamber below the
extends below it to retain a much deeper
craft so creating a specific pressure under the
cushion of air. The skirt of a hovercraft is one
craft. When the assembly is rotated at high-
of its most design sensitive parts. The skirt
speed air is sucked into the center hole in the
material has to be light flexible and durable all
fan and the slats force it out at the edges. The
at the same time.
advantages of the fan are two-fold. They
operate efficiently in an environment when The Engine
backpressure is high and they will move larger The engine has a main shaft on which is
volumes of air for a given rotation speed than mounted a compressor and a turbine. A starter
a propeller with the same speed and power motor is connected to one end of the shaft and
input. The lifting fan is coupled via a gearbox the other end is connected to the lift fan and
to the engine. The engine also drives the propeller gearboxes.When the engine is
propeller on the craft, which provides thrust for started, the compressor compresses air from
forward motion of the Hovercraft. the engine intakes and pushes it into
combustion chambers mounted around the
Thrust Propellers
engine. Fuel is squirted into the combustion
The propeller used to drive the hovercraft
chambers and ignited. The compressed air
along is usually an aircraft type with variable
then rapidly expands as it is heated and forces
pitch blades. Its speed of rotation must remain its way out through the turbine to the exhaust.
fixed to that of the engine and the lift fan. This As the gas pressure rises, the turbine speeds
is because the amount of lift air required up, thereby driving the compressor faster. The
dictates the engine speed to drives the lift fan. engine speed increases until it reaches the
In turn the amount of propulsion, which the engines normal operating speed.
propellers provide, must be obtained by
varying the propeller pitch and not its rate of A power of 2.2 horsepower at a rotational
rotation. This system is termed integrated lift/ speed of 2000 revolutions per minute was
propulsion. required to achieve the desired fan
characteristics. This motor was capable of
Momentum Curtain outputting 3.5 horsepower at 2000 rpm, with a
The craft would require enormous power to torque of 12.9 Nm. A table of this engines data
maintain a reasonable hover height. To solve is shown below.
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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 V Abhiram et al., 2014
We now consider the functioning of the Varieties of problems and factors have to
components of our craft. The engine mount be taken into account in designing and
performs very well in supporting and constructing a hovercraft. The difficulties
constraining the engine while limiting its involved in maintaining stability and functional
vibrations. competency has limited the application to only
The skirt fills well when inflated from the transportation or for military purpose. The cost
propeller indicating that the splitter functions involved in the developing of a hovercraft is
properly and the contours of the skirt were cut also another impediment to the widespread
and attached well. The clearance gap between use of this machine.
the propeller and the duct was significantly
reduced since the air that previously escaped REFERENCES
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CONCLUSION
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