Our FSI seminar series continues with Dr Melek Ertogan from Istanbul Technical University on Thursday 3rd March from 12:00-13:00
Optimal trim control of high speed crafts in calm sea is being studied in the most recent project. The purpose of the automatic trim control is to improve fuel efficiency, safety and comfort of passengers in a vessel. Trim tabs, interceptors, and sterndrive engines can be used to control the trim of a high speed craft.
The trim tabs and the interceptors were mounted on a craft Volcano71, in length 10.86m, for the real-time applications. The sterndrive engines of a Volcano71 have 2×380 HP and it reaches maximum of 40 knots. The pulse width modulation (PWM) drivers were provided for the interceptor, the trim tabs and the sterndrive systems of the gasoline engines can be manually trimmed. By the end of this project, they will be automatically trimmed by employing the mechatronic setup and an algorithm.
The energy saving systems were operated manually in calm sea for system identification purposes and observing maximum effects. After finalizing the simulation studies of the optimal trim control on the system identification model, the investigations of full scale trials will be realized.  Performance of the automatic trim control for a high speed craft can be evaluated with a GPS-aided inertial measurement unit (IMU) at the same motor power while a trim tab, an interceptor, and/or sterndrive system are active and off. It is aimed that the optimal trim control provides up to 30% energy saving.
 
Biography
Dr Melek Ertogan received B.Sc. degree from the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, M.Sc. degree from the Naval Architecture Department, and Ph.D. degree from the Mechanical Engineering Department from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1998, 2003, and 2012, respectively.
Previously, she was a Naval Architecture and Marine Engineer in the industry. She was then a Research Assistant, in the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, from 2000 to 2004. Since 2006, she has been a Lecturer at the Marine Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University. Her main research interests include ship automation and control, marine mechatronics, and intelligent systems.