Model and Simulate Maritime-Domain Applications

R2026b

Model, simulate, and visualize the dynamics of maritime vehicles using the Aerospace Blockset™ Maritime Applications Library support package. Use this support package to model low‑fidelity surface and underwater vehicle scenarios and show mission engineering workflows for ocean-based systems. The Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library includes these blocks.

Description	Block
Simulate six-degrees-of-freedom hydrostatic motion of standard shape in fluid environment	6DOF Hydrostatic (Standard Shape)
Generate ocean surface heightmap using irregular wave spectrum models	Irregular Wave
Compute sea pressure and in situ density of seawater from depth, temperature, and salinity	Pressure Density
Compute altitude of a vehicle relative to the local seafloor surface	Subsea Altitude
Estimate in situ temperature and practical salinity of seawater	Temperature Salinity
Generate terrain elevation heightmap for marine environment simulation	Terrain Generator

Install Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library Support Package

To install the support package:

1. On the MATLAB^® Home tab, in the Environment section, select Add-Ons > Explore Add-Ons.

2. In the Add-On Explorer window, search for the Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library support package.

3. Click Install.

   Note

   You must have write permission for the installation folder.

The support package installs the blocks in the Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library, which you can access through the Library Browser or quick insert.

Model Maritime Applications

The Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library supports modeling and analysis of surface and underwater maritime vehicles. These workflows reuse familiar vehicle dynamics patterns and augment them with maritime-specific environment, wave, and hydrostatics modeling.

Model Maritime Vehicle Dynamics

Model the motion of surface vessels or underwater vehicles using standard Aerospace Blockset vehicle dynamics workflows.

1. Define mass properties, reference frames, and equations of motion.

2. Use the 6DOF Hydrostatic (Standard Shape) block to populate the vehicle model with maritime hydrostatic configurations.

3. Add environment blocks from the Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library.

   • Irregular Wave

   • Pressure Density

   • Subsea Altitude

   • Temperature Salinity

   • Terrain Generator

4. Simulate the vehicle motion with different gravity, buoyancy, and environmental values.

Simulate Ocean Waves and Sea States

Represent realistic ocean surface conditions, such as directional, short-crested, and long-crested seas.

1. Using the Irregular Wave block, select an irregular wave spectrum model, for example, Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) or Pierson-Moskowitz.

2. Parameterize the sea state using wave height and period inputs.

3. Generate wave elevation as time-series data at specific locations, or as 2-D spatial wave height fields.

4. Use wave outputs as inputs to vehicle dynamics models or drive analysis and visualization.

Model Surface and Underwater Scenarios

Apply maritime workflows to different operating domains using a common modeling approach. This workflow supports stability-focused analysis for underwater platforms.

• Surface vehicles — Focus on wave-induced motion, buoyancy, and seakeeping behavior.

• Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) — To simulate submerged operation and trajectories, incorporate water properties from the Temperature Salinity and Pressure Density blocks, and bathymetry data from the Subsea Altitude block.

Limitations

The Aerospace Blockset Maritime Applications Library supports engineering-level modeling and analysis, not high-fidelity ocean simulation. Key limitations include:

• No real-time ocean data feeds.

• No high-fidelity CFD or wave-structure interaction modeling.