i've talked with some folks who worked on a couple of
SWATH projects and their comments are interesting.
all the positives previously mentioned are very real.
the problem, however, is that the large masses at the
end of the long moment arms (vertical hull structures)
produce incredible bending loads on the joint between
the hulls and the wing deck. think about the action
of a beam sea, for example. there is a large wetted
surface for it to work on, and it's very hard to
brace it any way but internally.
the result is that the mechanical engineering and
materials challenges which must be solved to
realize a SWATH can be quite daunting.
lower speeds and smaller scale may make the design
more workable - USN efforts were on big things going fast.
they are fascinating to see under way and illustrate
the rate of innovation in naval architecture that
we are now enjoying - arguable the greatest rate in
the last 100 years.
cheers,
-mo
i've talked with some folks who worked on a couple of
SWATH projects and their comments are interesting.
all the positives previously mentioned are very real.
the problem, however, is that the large masses at the
end of the long moment arms (vertical hull structures)
produce *incredible* bending loads on the joint between
the hulls and the wing deck. think about the action
of a beam sea, for example. there is a large wetted
surface for it to work on, and it's very hard to
brace it any way but internally.
the result is that the mechanical engineering and
materials challenges which must be solved to
realize a SWATH can be quite daunting.
lower speeds and smaller scale may make the design
more workable - USN efforts were on big things going fast.
they are fascinating to see under way and illustrate
the rate of innovation in naval architecture that
we are now enjoying - arguable the greatest rate in
the last 100 years.
cheers,
-mo
