Mission
Our mission is to perform fundamental and applied research, and train graduate students in the areas of ship hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, ocean and coastal engineering, environmental protection, water transport, and defense.
Scientific and Applied Fields of Investigation and Subject of Activities
1. Ship hydrodynamics
- powering performance, seakeeping and maneuverability of sea and river ships and barge trains in model and prototype scale;
- hydrodynamic design and optimization of ship hull forms and ship propellers for optimal powering/seakeeping/maneuverability/cavitation/vibrations/noise.
2. Ship dynamics and ocean engineering
- design of ships, floating platforms, coastal structures based on operating conditions (waves, wind and current);
- theoretical and experimental assessments of the global performance and stability of ships, floating platforms and fish farms;
- development and implementation of Emergency Response Systems (ERS);
- theoretical and experimental evaluation of sea/river ships disasters;
- hydrodynamic evaluation of floating and submerged renewable energy generators;
- theoretical and experimental evaluation of the maneuverability of sea/river ships and barge trains;
- development of simulators for pushed train navigation on the Danube river and other inner European water routes.
3. Coastal engineering
- generation and spreading of wind waves and wave-generated currents in the coastal zone;
- wave impact on coastline and coastal structures;
- sediment transport and bathymetry changes in the coastal zone;
- hydrodynamic impact of river ships and barge trains on the bottom and bank of the waterways;
- risk factors related to floods on the Lower Danube river.
4. Aerodynamics
- aerodynamic evaluation of ships, floating platforms, aircraft, and land structures;
- aerodynamic evaluation of wind farms;
- evaluation of the metrological characteristics of instrumentation for wind/air currents/flow measurements.
5. Water transport efficiency
- efficiency evaluation of the sea/river transport;
- hydrodynamic evaluation of new generations of sea/river ships and barge trains;
- development of intermodal transport schemes for the Danube-Main-Rhine waterway.
6. Fish farming
- methodology development for modeling and prediction of fish farm hydrodynamic performance, as well as techniques for coupled hydrodynamic-strength modeling;
- hydrodynamic evaluation of fish farm cages and feed barge silos.
7. Marine engineering software
- CAD/CAM software with custom add-ins for hydrostatics and stability calculations, and model manufacturing;
CFD software:
- potential solvers for design and optimization;
- Navier-Stokes solvers for accurate assessment of nonlinear and viscous effects;
- data acquisition and signal processing software.
8. Model manufacture
- development of scaled down CAD/CAM models of ships, floating platforms, screw propellers, nozzles, podded propellers, water jets, etc.
- manufacturing of scaled down models for hydro/aerodynamic testing.
9. Instrumentation design and manufacture
- design and assembly of instrumentation for hydro/aerodynamic model testing.
10. Technologies related to national security and defense
- design and evaluation of terrorist-action-averting devices implemented in Bulgarian territorial waters;
- multispectral theoretical and experimental evaluation of navy ships in cooperation with NATO and the US Navy.