Heave control of amphibious hovercraft by means of an active-fan system

This paper describes the development of a heave control system for amphibious hovercraft, the central element in the system being an axial flow, lift-fan whose blade angles are continuously varied by means of feedback signals from a pressure transducer located in the front end of the hovercraft cushion and from an accelerometer measuring the heave acceleration. Transfer functions associated with the cushion dynamics were obtained by means of parameter identification using coefficient-plane models in which the coefficients were estimated by means of a nonlinear optimization algorithm. Results from experiments, conducted on the Cranfield, Whirling-Arm facility, have shown that the system provides a rapid and effective means of controlling the heave acceleration and, in addition, produces a valuable reduction in craft drag whilst traversing waves.