Resistance is (not) Futile!

Resistance is (not) Futile! Strapping Jet Engines to an 1880s Paddle Steamer

Guests: Dimitri Ponkratov (Marine Director, Siemens Digital Industries Software),

Rui Lopes (Postdoc, Chalmers University)

Host: Stephen Ferguson

Episode Summary:

In this episode of The Engineer Innovation Podcast, we explore one of the most surprising engineering experiments of the 20th century—strapping jet engines to an 1880s paddle steamer to solve the problem of ship resistance testing! Our guests, Dimitri Ponkratov and Rui Lopes, walk us through the rediscovery of this post-war experiment and explain how it’s influencing cutting-edge ship design today.

Dimitri shares the fascinating history of the Lucy Ashton, a paddle steamer refitted with jet engines in the 1950s to isolate ship resistance from propeller effects. Meanwhile, Rui discusses the ongoing international workshop using modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to validate this historic data, and how their findings could revolutionize the future of shipbuilding.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Full-scale ship resistance testing: challenges and breakthroughs
• The 1950s experiment involving jet engines on the Lucy Ashton
• How historical data is shaping modern CFD models and simulations
• Insights from the JoRes Joint Research Initiative and Chalmers University workshop
• The implications of this research for future ship design and performance testing

Show Highlights:

• [03:25] Dimitri introduces the concept of ship resistance and explains the challenges of isolating different components in real-world tests.
• [09:00] The story behind the Lucy Ashton and the ingenious 1950s experiment that used jet engines to solve a naval engineering puzzle.
• [14:45] Ruy shares the success of their international workshop, where 47 groups are participating to validate this unique data set using modern CFD tools.
• [25:20] A look at the impact of human error in ship simulations and how workshops like this help refine industry practices.
• [30:00] Reflections on the historical significance of the Lucy Ashton and its continued role in maritime innovation.
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Resources Mentioned:

• Lucy Ashton on Wikipedia
• Chalmers University Workshop on Ship Resistance Testing
• JoRes Joint Research Initiative