Design and CFD Simulation of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)

The main objective of the article was to design the structureof an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) basedon the design principles and previous works. In addition,investigated the hydro-static parameters by ROV modelingin SolidWorks, and hydrodynamic coefficient throughnumerical modeling using the commercial ComputationalFluid Dynamics (CFD) package ANSYS CFX. Initially, theparameters that affect the ROV performance are specifiedsuch as frame size, materials, shape, components placement,and etc. Then the ROV modeled in CAD software to obtainthe basic hydro-static variables including the mass, volume,area, center of gravity, center of buoyancy, geometryproperties, and etc. The ROV model revised in some casesto optimize it. CFD simulations were carried out on thesimplified model to gain initial results accurately.Simulations were conducted at varying speeds anddirections. A preliminary hybrid mesh was created. Fromthese simulations, hydrodynamic forces were calculated andhydrodynamic coefficients derived.

Keywords:

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) , SolidWorks , ANSYS-CFX , CFD