General Information on the MHL:

The Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory is home to a recirculating, variable pressure water tunnel.

Originally developed for the testing of ship propellers, the MIT Marine Hydrodynamics Water Tunnel employs a moving stream of water rather than a moving object as in a towing tank. It has a test section 1.2 meters long by 50 cm square through which an extremely uniform stream of water can be moved at speeds up to 10 m/s. Click here for tunnel schematics and photographs.

Models of propellers, waterjets, control surfaces, hydrofoils, submersibles and other devices can be tested. The pressure of the water can be adjusted automatically over a wide range in order to scale cavitation characteristics of the object being tested. Recent works include drag reduction tests with electro-magneto-hydrodynamics, turbulence reduction through fish-like swimming motions, snake-swimming, and flapping foil experiments. In addition the facility is used extensively in student laboratories for hydrodynamcis courses within the Ocean Engineering Department.

In the past, the water tunnel has been used to examine various 2D wing sections for Professor Jerry Milgram to aid in his design of the appendages of the America^3 yacht for the 1995 America's Cup, and to evaluate the performance of a number of propellers for sailboats.

State of the art flow visualization and measurement devices are in use at this facility. Particle Image Velocimetry and Laser Doppler Velocimetry are widely used in many projects. Upcoming additions include a fiber-probe for the LDV system and stereoPIV capabilities. A computer-controlled traverse is used to position measurement equipment. The laboratory has several PC's equipped with multi-channel analog/digital boards for use in test data acquisition and processing.

We do perform work for people outside of MIT. Experiments have been run in our facility for a number of individuals and companies. Please contact Prof. Michael Triantafyllou for further information on contracting with the MHL.

Mailing Address:

Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory
MIT Center for Ocean Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
77 Massachusetts Avenue; Room 3-269
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Shipping Address:

Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory
MIT Center for Ocean Engineering
60 Vassar; Room 3-269
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Phone Number: 617-253-4349