Design, fabrication, and test planning for an SMA-actuated vortex wake control system

This paper describes ongoing design and fabrication work on a vortex wake control system for submarines that employs SMA-actuated devices. Previous work has described the theoretical basis and feasibility studies for this system, which is based on a novel wake control scheme known as vortex leveraging. The critical item in the realization of this system is a Smart Vortex Leveraging Tab (SVLT), whose design and fabrication is the principal focus of this work. This paper outlines the background of the effort and the design principles involved, but will chiefly deal with three closely interrelated topics; the hydrodynamic design requirements and control surface layout for the vortex leveraging system; the detail design and fabrication techniques being used in the construction of a prototype SVLT; and the test planning and experiment design process currently underway for test of both the overall vortex leveraging concept and SVLT device itself.