The technical objectives of the Phase I effort are to develop two candidate designs for electromechanically driving the rudder on a DDG51 Flt IIA ship using a permanent magnet motor. Each candidate design will be analyzed to assess its feasibility with careful attention to failure modes, redundancies, contingency plans, estimates of mean time between failures and estimates of mean time to repair. Based on the analysis, a recommendation will be formulated regarding the feasibility of electromechanically driving the rudder. Benefits Anticipated benefits of using electromechanical steering to replace the existing hydraulic system include a reduction in acoustic noise and the vibrations associated with cavitation due to fluctuating pressures and valve actuations. In addition, system efficiency should be increased to eliminate the need for sea water heat exchangers. Further, improvements are expected in the relatively high maintenance cost of the system, as well as reducing weight and volume of the system. Keywords steering gear, hydraulic replacement , permanent magnet motor
