Cortana's Skin Friction Reduction Technology
Reduction in fuel costs is becoming a high- priority goal to the Navy (the Chief of Naval Operations would like to see fuel expenditure rates reduced by several tens of percent) and has always been a goal for commercial marine transportation. The frictional drag component for hull forms considered for DDX and LSC is very large. Reduction in total drag relates directly to reductions in fuel costs. Reports sponsored by DoD indicate that if frictional drag can be reduced by about 70%, then 60- to 70-knot oceanic deployments can be achieved. This level of friction drag reduction will permit reductions in fuel costs of 15 to 40% depending on the hull form.
The
"Iron Triangle"
While the effects on operational costs are very interesting, the effect on design may be more compelling. Naval Architects have long considered the design “Iron Triangle” to be speed-payload-endurance. That is, improving any one of those factors requires compromise with one or both of the other two. A drag reduction system can increase the speed of a ship for a given power level, or reduce the power requirement for a given speed. Thus, incorporating such a system into vessel design will reduce traditional design constraints and effectively break the “Iron Triangle” by creating more payload and endurance options while maintaining or even increasing speed.
