More than 70 percent of our planet is covered by water. Engineering for the marine environment covers the design and production of all types of systems to operate successfully in this often harsh and demanding environment. In addition to traditional naval architecture and marine engineering, instruction is offered in offshore engineering, coastal engineering, and marine environmental engineering. Recent graduates are active in design and research related to offshore oil and gas exploration and production platforms. Others are involved in overcoming water-borne pollution transport in the Great Lakes and the oceans, and coastal erosion predictions, as well as the design of traditional ships, submersibles, high-speed vessels and recreational craft. A number of our alumni have had leading roles in the design of America's Cup racing yachts.

Since the design of modern marine systems encompasses many engineering fields, graduates of this department are called upon to handle diverse professional responsibilities; therefore, the program includes study in the fundamentals of the physical sciences and mathematics as well as a broad range of engineering aspects that constitute design for the marine environment. To provide the appropriate educational breadth, students are required to complete at least 16 credits of Intellectual Breadth requirements from an approved list of courses. It is recognized that the undergraduate program cannot, in the time available, treat all important aspects of engineering for the marine environment that may be desired by the student; therefore, graduate work is encouraged.

Ship and offshore platform analysis and design require knowledge of hull geometry, vessel arrangements, hydrostatic stability, structures, resistance, propulsion, maneuvering, and seakeeping. Other areas of concern are the economic aspects of design and operation, production, model testing, propeller and control theory, vibration problems, and piping and electrical system analysis and design.

The undergraduate degree program is arranged to give the student a broad engineering mechanics education by requiring basic courses in the areas of structural mechanics, hydrodynamics, marine power systems, and marine dynamics. These courses cover engineering fundamentals and their application to the design and construction of marine vehicles and systems. Courses in marine structures deal with the design and analysis of marine vehicles and platforms including static strength, fatigue, dynamic response, safety, and production. Resistance, maneuvering, and seakeeping characteristics of bodies in the marine environment are the subject matter for courses in marine hydrodynamics. Marine power systems involve all the mechanical systems on a marine vehicle with particular emphasis on the selection and arrangement of the main propulsion system. In marine dynamics, the student studies the vibrations of marine structures and engines and the rigid body responses of the vessel to wind and waves. Through the use of technical and free electives, students may decide to focus their education in areas such as:

• Marine Structures
• Ship Production and Management
• Sailing Yachts
• High Speed Craft
• Marine Power Systems

An integration of the material covered in earlier courses takes place in the two-semester, final design sequence. In the first course of this sequence, the student works on a class design project using state-of-the-art computer-aided design tools. In the second semester, the students form design teams and work on projects of their choosing. Recent final design projects included a mega yacht, an offshore wind farm repair vessel, a cruise ship rescue vessel, an offshore well intervention vessel, a neo-Panamax containership, a naval vessel for high-energy weapons, and an offshore racing trimaran.

The department works closely with the marine industry and is able to assist graduates in obtaining positions in the field. The department is in constant touch with the country's marine design offices, shipyards, ship operators, government agencies, and other organizations concerned with naval architecture and marine engineering. A summer internship program allows students to work in the industry.

Students who meet the academic requirements of both departments may earn an additional B.S.E. degree in another engineering program, or in combined programs with other engineering departments. The combined programs allow substantial substitution of courses required in one regular program for those required in the other, and typically can be completed in one extra term.

Facilities

The Marine Hydrodynamic Laboratory (MHL) is a suite of labs and facilities that engage in classic naval architecture experiments, such as calm water resistance, seakeeping, and propeller tests. We also conduct research in areas of current interest like hull form drag reduction and planning hull and surface effect ship dynamics.

The MHL support education and research at the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University of Michigan. Our facility also host industry and government sponsored research and testing programs.

Physical Modeling Basin

Built in 1905, the physical model basin was the first towing tank owned and operated by an education institution in the United States. Remodeling activities began during 1962 and continued in 1980 and 1990. Since 2001, the capabilities have been under continual upgrade and improvement. The model basin is equipped to facilitate a full range of classical and innovative experimental procedures consisting of but not limited to the following:

• conventional ship resistance and propulsion testing
• advanced six-degree-of-freedom seakeeping tests
• flow-visualization using videos and lasers
• three component laser Doppler velocimetry
• Model motion tracking using an infrared optical tracking system
• directional stability, related to towing, using laser tracking
• maneuvering tests

The model basin is equipped with its own machine shop, model building facility, and electronics laboratory that are operated by skilled technical professionals. In addition to supporting the construction of accurate models of ships, barges, offshore structures, and specialized vehicles, platforms and fixtures, this staff is responsible for providing and maintaining a full suite of model testing equipment that includes the following:

• ultrasonic and capcitance wave provbes
• accelerometers
• rate gyroscopes
• 3D imagers, multi comp force transformers
• Phantom V9.1 high speed, high resolution large storage imagers
• string potentiometers
• LVDTs and RVDTs load cells
• pressure transducers
• flow meters
• custom-built equipment to facilitate specialized testing activities

The towing tank is equipped with an electrically driven, computerized wedge-type wavemaker that is capable of generating regular waves (wave periods between 0.5 and 2.0 seconds) and irregular waves from stored time records or from direct computer output.

Gravity-Capillary Wind Wave Facility

The gravity-capillary wind wave facility is located in the Research Hallway of the MHL. Research conducted in this facility includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:

• wind-waves and wind-shear interacting with mechanically generated water waves

• understanding and facilitating fluid control in microgravity environments by utilizing servo-controlled motors with feedback to generate mean motion through longitudinally oscillating horizontal cylinders containing fluid
• investigating contact line dynamics by conducting experiments in uni-directionally rotating and oscillating axially circular cylinders
• the flow physics associated with oscillating thin disks and similarly shaped bodies used in offshore structures (tension-leg platforms and spar buoys)
• utilizing high-speed imaging, particle-image velocimetry, particle-tracking velocimetry, and flow visualization techniques

The gravity-capillary wind wave facility is equipped with experimental tanks and basins and specialized equipment. The largest of the facilities is the air-sea interaction tank.  It is used to study gravity-capillary wind-wave interactions, and to investigate beach profiles and sediment transport phenomena. The basin is 35 meters long, 0.7 meters wide, and can support maximum water depths of approximately 1.2 meters. The air flow is generated by a 40 horsepower suck-down flow loop that is capable of producing air flows between two and 30 meters per second. Additionally, the basin is equipped with a computer controlled wedge-type mechanical wave generator capable of providing feedback and producing maximum frequencies of 10 Hz. The cross-sectional area of the combined water-air flow increases downstream to facilitate the growing boundary layers.

The air-sea interaction tank is used to study steep, high frequency gravity waves and the parasitic capillary waves they generate. Additionally, waves subject to internal resonance phenomena are also under investigation.  These short waves are of fundamental importance involving the contact line at the air-water-ship hull interface and electromagnetic (radar) scattering from rough ocean surfaces.  Remote sensing of the ocean surface reveals features such as ship wakes, ocean current boundaries, pollution slicks, bathymetry, and wind driven wave fields. Since electromagnetic waves are primarily scattered by water waves of approximately the same wavelength, the ability to detect remotely these characteristics depends on the generation and disturbance of the short, high frequency, gravity-capillary waves on the free surface.

Circulating Water Channel

This facility was designed to conduct research on friction drag reduction generated by polymer and bubble injection and air films. The purpose of the experiments is to understand how this type of technology can be used to reduce drag on ocean-going vessels or fixed structures.

The circulating water channel is a system that is a 1:14 scale model of the U.S. Navy’s Large Cavitation Channel (LCC) [LINK: http:// http://www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/carderock/pub/who/sites/memphis.aspx] located at Memphis, Tennessee. The circulating water channel includes a test section measuring 36.6 inches long, 8.6 inches wide, and 8.6 inches high. It has a 6:1 contraction and a diffuser section, and a 200 horsepower open loop AC drive motor capable of producing maximum flow speeds of 50 knots.

Polymer, micro bubble with liquid stabilization, and air layer drag reduction have been under investigation in this facility.

Drop Test, Blast Mitigation Laboratory

This facility of Professor Marc Perlin is used primarily for drop tests for the blast mitigation effort and facilitates weights to more than 2600N striking objects with a maximum speed of 10m/s. Special high-speed rails and bearings were purchased to allow these rapid drop tests. The experimental effort in this facility has been conducted by Perlin in conjunction with theoretical work conducted by Professor Dale G. Karr. This facility also retains equipment from Perlin’s research conducted at the US Navy’s LCC in Memphis (see the Circulating Water Channel[LINK: local]) as well as the attendant equipment for Perlin’s Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC[LINK: http://www.goneec.org])  effort. Both of these sets of equipment include optical instrumentation (PIV, PTV, etc.), load cells, accelerometers, pressure transducers, high-speed video imagers (to O(MHz) at reduced resolution), hydrodynamics shakers, injection systems for air and polymer, and ancillary apparatuses.

Student Propeller Tunnel

A small propeller tunnel is available for student projects and as a teaching tool.  The tunnel has a test section of .36 m x .25 m x 1.2 m long.  The maximum flow speed is 3.75 m/sec.  This facility is used to demonstrate flows around propellers and hydrofoils and for student projects such as the lift and drag characteristics of a sailboard skeg.

Machine & Welding Shop

A machine shop and welding shop is available for the construction and fabrication of models, instrumentation, specialized experimental and testing equipment, and prototyping.

The machine shop has a bridge port mill and two lathes with tooling to do most jobs as well as a laydown saw for cutting of small to large metals.  Welding capabilities include all types of materials and material thicknesses including gas tungsten arc (TIG), shielded metal arc (Stick) and metal inert gas (MIG) welding.

The MIG welder is a small 110v unit that is used with material up to 1/4” thick.  It is very portable and used on equipment that cannot be brought to the welding shop.  The stick welder is good for all thickness of material and is used primarily for thick steel.  The TIG welder is used for stainless steel and aluminum. A small plasma cutter for up to 1/4” steel, stainless steel, and aluminum is also available.

Electronics Shop

The Electronics Shop is a full-featured design and testing laboratory tasked with acquiring, characterizing, and maintaining sensors required to perform experiments at the MHL.  We stock a range of load cells, programmable ultrasonic distance sensors, pressure sensors, accelerometers, inclinometers, LVDTs, and more.  The Shop has general use power supplies and "True RMS" NIST-traceable multimeters as well as a top-of-the-line high-frequency power meter for DC and AC motor characterization.  We use National Instruments equipment for data acquisition, with lock-in amplifiers available to capture very small signals, and we employ a standardized connector system with the TEDS interface (basically, an electronic instrument tag) in order to streamline the setup, calibration, and documentation processes.  We also supply accessories such as underwater lights and high-speed and/or underwater video cameras.  Developing custom instruments and equipment for a given test are completely within the realm of our abilities here at the Electronics Shop.

Model Shop

A complete wood working/composite material shop is available for the construction and fabrication of models, instrumentation, specialized experimental and testing equipment, and prototyping.

The model shop has a table saw, a large disc sander, and joiner as well as a variety of hand tools for wood working and composites.  The shop has large work surfaces for setting up models and installing instruments.

Accreditation

The Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

Department Administration

Department Chair
Steven Louis Ceccio
212 Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Building

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