SEMINAR ON HOVERCRAFT

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SEMINAR ON HOVERCRAFT
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• Introduction
• A Hovercraft is a vehicle that
• Flies like a plane but
• Float like a boat
• Drive like a car
• It can hover over or move across land or water
  surfaces while
• being held off from the surfaces by a cushion
  of air.

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• A Hovercraft can travel over all types of
• surfaces including grass, mud, muskeg, sand,
• quicksand, water and ice .Hovercraft prefer
• gentle terrain although they are capable of
• climbing slopes up to 20, depending upon
• surface characteristics.

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• History
• The first design by Swedish designer Emmanuel
• Swedenborg in 1716.
• The project was short-lived because it was never
• built, for soon Swedenborg soon realized that
  to
• operate such a machine required a source of
• energy far greater than that could be supplied
  
• by single human equipment.
• Until the early 20th century Hovercraft was not
• practically possible, because only the
  internal
• combustion engine had the very high power to
• weight ratio suitable for Hover flight.
• 
  

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SOME PICS OF HOVERCRAFT
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The First Hovercraft

• Christopher Cockerel thought of using a load of
  stuff you might find about the house to make a
  hovercraft.
• Cockerel took a set of scales and a long rod and
  arranged them so the rod was vertical.
• He then affixed a vacuum cleaner to the rod so it
  pointed down.
• Next he made a hole in a can and affixed a can
  that was smaller than the first in such a way it
  allowed air in-between the two cans. Cockerel
  made the vacuum cleaner blow instead of suck,
  blowing air through the gap in the two cans, and
  it worked.
• The scale went down as far as it could!.

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Basic Structure Of Hovercraft

• Parts Of Hovercraft
• Propeller - It pushes the hovercraft ahead by
  pushing air behind.
• Fan - Primary purpose is to inflate the cushion
  contained within the skirt beneath the craft as
  well as to provide thrust with which to propel
  the craft forward.
• Skirt - Part that allows the hovercraft to clear
  obstacles. Generally speaking, the higher the
  skirt, the larger the obstacle that the craft
  will clear.

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Principle Of Working

• To lift the craft by a cushion of air to propel
  it
• using propellers.
• The air sucked in through a port by large lifting
  
• fans which are fitted to the primary
  structure
• of the craft.
• They are powered by gas turbine or diesel
• engine.

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• Fan is used to inflate the skirt and rest is
• ducted down under the craft to fill area
• enclosed by the skirt.
• At the point when the pressure equals the
• weight of the craft, the craft lifts up and
  air is
• escaped around the edges of the skirt.
• So a constant feed of air is needed to lift the
• craft and compensate for the losses.

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ADVANTAGES OF HOVERCRAFT

• Travel over any surface.
• Shortcutting routes.
• Travel rivers up as fast as down, irrespective of
  the current.
• Travel in dry water-beds.
• No collision with debris, logs etc.
• Access to 75 of coastal area instead of only 5
  with conventional vessels.

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• Hovercraft are very fuel efficient (CO² friendly)
  
• as Hovercraft do not have to plough through
  the
• water but "fly" above the surface. At maximum
  
• speed fuel consumption of a Hovercraft is
  approx.
• 70 less than of a fast patrol boat with
  similar
• payload capacity.
• No turbulence or impact in water as no propeller
• churns up the water so sea life remains
  untouched

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FUTURE OF HOVERCRAFT

• The future of hovercraft seems uncertain,
  but there is a good chance there will be huge
  hover ports all over the world, like the one in
  the picture. Thinner hovercraft might be built so
  civilians can drive safely on roads. It also
  seems likely that the larger hover vehicles will
  become larger than ever! Hovercraft are likely to
  be capable of high flight.

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CONCLUSION

• Hovercrafts are generally simple
  mechanisms in theory. Yet the process from theory
  to manifestation is not as easy as it may seem. A
  plethora of problems exist and must be faced in
  order to attain a well functioning hovercraft.
  The plans and designs must be flawless. One must
  take under consideration the weight and the shape
  of each component in order to avoid problems such
  as instability and dysfunction. One thing is
  certain when building a hovercraft, be well
  aware of the demands of construction. Be prepared
  and willing to embrace failure for it is the only
  way to success. Only after failed attempts will
  you be able to finally design an effective
  hovercraft.

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• THANKS