Numerical Modeling of Supercavitating Flows

Supercavitating bodies can achieve very high speeds under water by virtue of reduced drag: with proper design, a cavitation bubble is generated at the nose and skin friction drag is drastically reduced. Depending on the type of supercavitating vehicle under consideration, the overall drag coefficient can be an order of magnitude less than that of a fully wetted vehicle. Slender-body theory and boundary element methods are two modern computational methods applied to the design of supercavitating vehicles. These course notes present recent advances in the theory behind these two computational approaches, as well as results and application of the methods to the simulation and control of supercavitating vehicles. --Original contains color plates: All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white. Presented at the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT) in support of a VKI Lecture Series presented from 12-16 February 2001, at the von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium. ISBN 92-837-1074-6. RTO Lecture Series 005. p9-1/9-39 This article is from ADA400728 Supercavitating Flows (les Ecoulements supercavitants)