India will soon join a select group of nations that have an exclusive Seakeeping and Maneuvering Basin (SMB) facility for testing models of ships in simulated ocean conditions. The SMB will be part of the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), situated in the South Indian coastal city of Visakhapatnam. The SMB is due to open by 2014. The total cost of the project is around Rs 170 crore ($3.8 million).
NSTL Director Bhujanga Rao tells Aviation Week that the Indian navy has been keenly interested in setting up the SMB at NSTL. “The Indian Navy, too, is funding the program and it will be the first of its kind in India,” Rao says. “Once operational, all future hydrodynamic design of all naval ships will be done here.”
The state-of-the-art SMB consists of a basin 135 meters (440 ft.) long and 37 meters across for performing captive and free running tests with ship models moving at a maximum speed of 6 meters per second. The fully enclosed facility will feature wave generators and absorbers, measuring equipment, model tracking systems and data acquisition sensors.
NSTL Director Bhujanga Rao tells Aviation Week that the Indian navy has been keenly interested in setting up the SMB at NSTL. “The Indian Navy, too, is funding the program and it will be the first of its kind in India,” Rao says. “Once operational, all future hydrodynamic design of all naval ships will be done here.”
The state-of-the-art SMB consists of a basin 135 meters (440 ft.) long and 37 meters across for performing captive and free running tests with ship models moving at a maximum speed of 6 meters per second. The fully enclosed facility will feature wave generators and absorbers, measuring equipment, model tracking systems and data acquisition sensors.
(Full report in AW)
