Esteban L. Castro-Feliciano

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Naval Architect & Marine Engineer at Crown Hydrodynamics LLC

Biofouling significantly impacts the hydrodynamic performance of marine vessels, leading to increased fuel consumption and operational costs. This effect is pronounced in planing craft, which rely not only on displacement for buoyancy but also on dynamic lift generated by speed, thereby exacerbating fuel consumption on a per unit size basis. Prelim...

In early 2020, sea trials carried out in some interisland high-speed boats in Galápagos confirmed the need to improve the comfort of the passengers during those trips. Results from those tests showed very high levels of vertical acceleration which, according to ISO 2631 standard, provoke high negative effects on the passengers, as was directly obse...

In early 2020, sea trials carried out in some interisland high-speed boats in Galápagos confirmed the need to improve the comfort of the passengers during those trips. Results from those tests showed very high levels of vertical acceleration which, according to ISO 2631 standard, provoke high negative effects on the passengers, as was directly obse...

The use of Dr. Savitsky's empirical methods for the hydrodynamic design of planing hulls is widespread in industry and academia. In spite of their common use, their implementations are frequently inconsistent among their users. This makes it difficult to share and replicate exact results, and apply those results to a reader's desired case study. Th...

This case study presents a novel insight into the design of a codesigned planing craft with an active control system (ACS), along with its potential advantages and disadvantages when compared with a traditionally designed vessel (i.e., a vessel whose geometry is first selected, and then its ACS is implemented). This work has three purposes:present...

A combustion buoyancy control system for a submersible object is provided. The buoyancy control system includes a piston cylinder and a piston defining a combustion chamber. An oxidizer inlet introduces oxidizer into the combustion chamber. A fuel injector and igniter device injects fuel into the combustion chamber so that it mixes with the oxidize...

Most available planing craft design tools and guidelines were not envisioned to be used with vessels that have Active Control Systems (ACS). Consequently, vessels with ACS are conventionally designed as “add-ons” in a sequential manner: first the geometry of the vessel is designed using traditional guidelines, and then the ACS is implemented. Howev...

This paper takes a novel approach to the design of planing craft with active control systems (ACS) by codesigning the longitudinal center of gravity (lcg) and ACS, and compares its performance with a vessel where the lcg and ACS are designed sequentially (traditional approach). The vessels investigated are prismatic in shape. The ACS are modeled as...

The available planing craft design tools and guidelines were not envisioned to be used with vessels that have Active Control Systems (ACS). Consequently, vessels with ACS are conventionally designed in a sequential manner: first the geometry of the vessel is designed using traditional guidelines, and then the ACS is implemented. However, sequential...

This paper takes a novel approach to the design of planing craft with active control systems (ACS) by co-designing the longitudinal center of gravity (lcg) and ACS, and compares its performance with a vessel where the lcg and ACS are designed sequentially (traditional approach). The vessels investigated are prismatic in shape. The ACS are modeled a...

These are some thoughts on the optimization of time-converging functions. The idea was to apply this to the optimization of metrics that are based on time-domain simulations. Unfortunately this work is currently incomplete, but I'm uploading it just in case its direction is helpful to someone.

The main objective for this paper is to explore the application of a machine learning method to the problem of near-term motion prediction for a planing boat in a seaway. This work is motivated by the fact that real-time measurements for ship motion variables, such as accelerations and orientations, are available on advanced high-speed planing craf...

The principle objective of this thesis project is to investigate the effects of water-emulsified fuel on the performance characteristics of a four-stroke, four-cylinder diesel engine. Specifically, the investigation focuses on determining the effects on efficiency of an on-line water-and-fuel emulsification system, using Venturi-induced cavitation....