About

About MHL

The Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories (MHL) investigates the various areas in which the marine environment affects our world. The laboratories encompass a number of "state of the art" testing facilities and numerical modeling capabilities with which to measure and predict the influence of physical forces on marine systems as well as ocean and coastal structures. The MHL also contains extensive field research capabilities for underwater exploration, nearshore and offshore hydrodynamic investigations and monitoring, sediment and pollution transport measurement and prediction, in-situ sensor technology, renewable energy systems, as well as water quality assessment and coastal monitoring systems.

The MHL is part of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and is located on the first floor of West Hall on central campus. It consists of a physical modeling basin, a low turbulence free surface water channel, a gravity-capillary wind wave facility, a circulating water channel, a specialized circulating water channel for drag reduction investigations, and the Ocean and Coastal Engineering Laboratory. The MHL also houses complete support facilities, including a woodworking shop, a machine shop, a welding fabrication area, several assembly areas, and an electronics shop. In addition to research in all areas of the Marine Environment, the MHL is also used in several group courses and for individual directed studies.

Mission

The mission of the MHL is to serve the marine community throughout the world, through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge to challenge the present and shape the future of the marine environment.

History

During the fall semester of 1904 the first engineering students passed through the engineering arch and into the newly constructed West Hall. They would be the first of many generations of students to benefit from the advanced facilities available in this new structure. Following a history of innovation and cutting edge technology that has defined the University of Michigan a 300 foot model basin was integrated into the very foundation of the building. Besides the federal government's tank in Washington DC, it was the only other one in the United States. This technology attracted the top faculty and made it possible to conduct research on ship resistance, shallow water effect, streamline flow, wave profiles, wake and rolling. Facilities for the model basin also included workshops for making scale models of vessels for testing. The model basin was eventually lengthened to its current overall length of 360 feet long. In the late 1950's a maneuvering basin was added but closed in the late 1960's.

The model basin has been in continuous use for over 100 years and has facilitated research and great change in maritime technology. At a time when steam was replacing sail, screw propellers were replacing paddle wheels, steel was replacing wrought iron and electricity was finding its way onto ships, maritime engineering was an emerging field of study.

Although the 15 ton carriage still rides across the surface of the model basin on the same rails as it has done for over 100 years, it is now controlled by precision electronics.

The Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department was moved to North Campus in the 1970's while the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories, with its unique facilities and roots deeply set in the foundation of West Hall, remained on central campus.

During the next thirty years several notable advancements and facilities were integrated into the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories.

  • 1986 Creation of the Ocean Engineering Laboratory
  • 1989 Gravity/Capillary Wind/Wave Facility
  • 1989 Low Turbulence Free Surface Water Channel
  • 1997 Coastal Survey Vessel
  • 1995 Coastal Monitoring Buoy
  • 2003 Circulating Water Channel (Mini LCC)
  • 2006 Second Coastal Monitoring Buoy
  • 2007 Ocean Renewable Energy Lab
  • 2007 Two Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

With forward looking ideas and a vision beyond our primary beginning in ship design, the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories have embarked into new areas of research. A full time staff and several students are engaged not only with model testing, but have reached out to investigate ideas that surpass the aspirations of the people who founded our facility over 100 years ago. Research has expanded beyond the rooms of West Hall to span the North Slope and Bering Glacier in Alaska, the world's oceans, the Laurentian Great Lakes and numerous inland waterways.

As we embark into the next century we look back at the knowledge that has been achieved and embrace the future of all that is yet to be discovered.

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